Drifter Adrift
by InsertHilariousPenNameHere
Summary: [MCU/X-Men Fusion][SI] A teenager is thrust on a journey to a place he's never been, with powers he thought were impossible. Stuck travelling between past and future, he seeks a way to fix the problems of the future in the past. Very slight Psyren crossover.
1. Chapter 1

_"Question 30: Have you ever killed a living thing larger than a human? Dial Yes or No."_

I sighed, already regretting having started this, and pressed '2' for No. At this point I just wanted it to be over, but I'd already spent too much time on this shitty phone quiz to give up now.

 _"Question 31: Have you ever poured water hotter than 80 degrees Celsius on your face? Dial Yes or No."_

 _The fuck kind of question is that?!_ I thought, pausing in bewilderment for a moment, before shaking ym head and pressing 2.

 _"Question 33:"_ The female operator on the other end began again, and I barely kept myself from groaning aloud. _Your shitty quiz is way too long, lady!_

 _"Have you ever wanted to press your feet into someone's face without stopping? Dial Yes or No."_ I pressed 2. Honestly, I didn't know why I was surprised any more. These questions had only been ramping up in weirdness as they went on, but I wasn't going to give up now, dammit!

The questions continued, and at this point I was half-tempted to just start randomly pressing 1 or 2 without listening to the question. _Why did I pick up that ringing payphone in the first place? What kind of weirdo calls a payphone and expects someone to pick up?_

Well, I had picked up, so maybe I was the idiot. After all, I'd just taken that weird red card without even thinking about it - it probably belonged to the guy who'd just used it, and forgot to take it back. There were no distinguishing marks though, what was I supposed to do? Just leave it? _Stop making me feel guilty, damn conscience!_

 _"Question 61: You don't think anything of the future. Dial Yes or No."_

What's there to think of? We'll all be underwater or dead in a couple of years, anyway... I dialed 1.

 _"Question 62: You're going to sneak out to that party tomorrow, despite your parents explicitly telling you not to."_

I paused.

 _"You constantly worry that you're wasting your life by staying at home so much, and are desperate to get a more active social life. You want nothing more than to be like every other teenager, and spend time with people your age instead of doing things that will help your future career."_

 _What... What the fuck is this?!_

My eyes were wide, my mouth was open, wordlessly forming questions that I could never answer. _What the fuck is going on?! What is this crazy fucking quiz?!_

 _"You would do anything to have a girlfriend to spend your time with, even if you get mocked for it."_

I carefully, slowly, placed the phone back on the box, hanging up. I took a step back, and then another, my back now pressing against the glass door of the payphone. I deliberately and glacially pushed it open, keeping my eyes on the phone, still talking, for as long as possible.

Then I was gone, racing off into the distance and away from that fucking payphone, ignoring the glances from the few people still out at this time. _What is this... Is this some kind of hoax? Are there hidden cameras filming me right now? What the fuck?!_

I ran until my breath came short and ragged, until I felt like throwing up and I _was as fucking far away from that payphone as possible!_

I bent over double, resting my elbows on my knees, and trying to catch my breath in desperate, heaving gasps. _I am far enough way now? Because I would really like to know what the fuck is going on!_

 ***RRRRING! RRRRING!***

I stopped. My breath caught in my throat. I swallowed thickly, feeling bile build up at the back of my throat, and hesitantly, gradually, turned my head to the side.

A payphone. The door open. And...

 ***RRRRING! RRRRING!***

It was ringing.

I straightened up. _There... There's no way... There's no way it's that same person, right? It has to be some other random person... Right? So... There's no harm... In picking up the phone... Right?_

 _Right?_

 ***RRRRING! RRRRING!***

Entranced, I moved towards the payphone. My legs moved of their own accord. I looked down, blearily. _Am... I... Doing that? I... Don't remember... Telling them to walk over here..._

I walked into the cubicle. The phone was still ringing. My hand moved out to answer it. _Wait... No... Stop, don't do that..._

I picked up the phone, and brought it to my ear.

 _"Question 63: Do you want to go to Psyren? Dial Yes or No."_

My finger hovered before the keypad.

When my eyes opened, it was to a vista of horror.

 _What the fuck is this...?!_

A wasteland stretched out in every direction. Sand, mountains, rolling dunes and rocky outcroppings were the only features of this dry and dustly landscape.

 _Where the fuck am I...?!_

The sky was covered by smoke and ash in every direction, the barest vestiges of light protruding through the cloud cover to provide a gloomy, dirty illumination over everything.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" I screamed as loud as I could.

Everything that had happened finally caught up to me- the weird red card, the questions, the lady on the phone, and now _this?!_

I couldn't take it.

I collapsed, huddled into myself and curled up into a ball. Tears leaked form eyes and snot ran down my nose.

"Why... Why is this happening to me?" I muttered, as sobs wracked my form. "I didn't do anything... I didn't hurt anybody... Why..."

...

I lay there for a while, numb, waiting for my body to tire itself out. I didn't have an exact duration, but it was at least an hour. Surely.

I only came out of it when I heard a voice, faintly. A male voice- _not that fucking operator, thank god._

"Oi!" They called, from a distance. I uncurled and rolled into a sort of sitting position, wary of anyone I might encounter in this horrifying place. "Hello! You there!"

I stood up, looking at the figure walking towards me from a couple dozen meters away. He was tall, brawny with a short scruffy beard. He was wearing some kind of martial arts robe - a _gi,_ I think? - and a pair of sandals, as well as sunglasses atop his head. I waved, cautiously.

 ***WHOOMPF***

"Gah!" I yelled, and stumbled back, falling onto my ass. "What the fuck...?"

The man had blurred forward, reappearing with an audible _BOOM_ right in front of me. _Jesus Christ, can things get any weirder?!_

"Shit," he said. "Another newbie? Dammit, Q, we don't need any more fucking drifters..."

"I-I'm sorry, but I would really appreciate a _fucking explanation_ right about now!" I yelled, my voice cracking halfway through as tears threatened to reappear. _Dammit, you fucking crybaby, stop being a pussy! Man up!_

"... Right. I suppose that's the least we can do." He sighed and looked around, a strange hardness in his eyes. "Alright, let's get somewhere safe, and then we can talk."

"Okay, where do you- woAAAAHHHHHH!" I was cut off mid-sentence as the man threw me over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, and _leaped 20 feet into the air._

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I'm sure he didn't appreciate the constant wail in his ears, but _you don't just grab someone and leap away!_

We landed without much ceremony, though I did feel like throwing up as my whole weight was slammed into the guys shoulder, and slammed into the roof of a half-sunken skyscraper, the bottom half of the building swallowed by sand.

I dropped onto my side, wheezing uncontrollably as the guy skimmed his eyes over the horizon, staring deeply into the distance. _Stop trying to look cool, you asshole! I feel like my guts just got a baseball bat all over!_

"Alright," he spoke up finally. "We should be safe here."

"You gonna-" I broke off to deliver a coughing fit. "You gonna explain this shit now?"

"Okay." He said, sitting down and crossing his legs, before cracking his neck. "I'm Vito, by the way."

"... Adam." I replied, after a brief pause.

"Okay, Adam." He smiled slightly, the scruff on his chin writhing briefly. "It's nice to meet you." He closed his eyes and released a deep, heavy sigh. "Okay, how to explain this... Alright, let's start from the beginning. A few days ago, you got a red calling card that said 'Psyren' on it, didn't you?"

I nodded, cautiously. Mostly I was watching him - he seemed extremely tense, his shoulders tight, and his whole body ready to leap up at a moment's notice.

"Recently, you put the card into a payphone, and started a phone quiz, right? And then the operator started asking some very odd questions, before she got more and more specific to your exact situation?" Both questions were accompanied by a nod from me, even as my horror grew - this was a fucking replicable occurrence? It had happened to this guy, too?

"After you finished the questions, they lady asked you whether you wanted to go to Psyren - no matter what you answered, you then ended up here." By this point, my mouth gaped open, my eyes were wide and staring, and a frown was deeply embedded on my face.

"You're telling me... This has happened before?!" I all but yelled, and I could feel my body flush with indignant - and impotent - rage.

"Yes. The one who did this - the one who brought all of the Psyren drifters here - is Nemesis Q. Some mysterious creature, that can travel anywhere without difficulty, and calls at random for drifters to return to Psyren." He pauses, then holds his arms out wide, gesturing to the wasteland around us, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "This place... All around us... Is Psyren." He stopped. "The future."

...

 _What?_

 _You're kidding. This isn't the future. There's no way my fucking city can go from bustling capital of England to_ this.

"You think I'm joking." He chuckled, wryly, but I could see both resignation and sorrow in his eyes. "I wish I was. But I've seen the landmarks, sunken and broken beneath the sand."

 ***screeeeee!***

He leaped to his feet as a distant sound broke the momentary silence between us. I jumped as well; both from the sound, and from his movement. _He moved way too fast for a human... That was supernatural speed, his body_ blurred _it moved so quickly._

After a moment of staring, he heaved another sigh, and collapsed back to his seated position. "That..." He murmured. "Is the other thing you need to know about Psyren. Monsters called Tavoo roam the place, looking for any human stragglers to pick off, kill or take back to their towers. Where... We think that humans are being turned into more Tavoo."

I was speechless. This was just too much information, all at once. I couldn't-

"There's more." He continued, and I practically _gaped_ at him. His constant stream of information was fucking _physically exhausting me._ "Now that you've been to Psyren, you've been exposed to the atmosphere. Pretty soon you'll have a fever, you'll feel ill, your nose will start bleeding, and you'll pass out."

"What the fu-"

"It's nothing to worry about-" he cut in, a slight smile tugging at his lips. _Nostalgia I'd bet, you old fart._ "It happens to all the drifters when they first come here, it's how they awaken their PSI."

"I'm sorry, can I just- cut in here?" I asked, getting to my feet. My stomach was bruised, I was sweating like a fucking _pig_ , and I was absolutely exhausted, both mentally and physically. "Do you not think that maybe we should be figuring out how to get back to our own fucking time?!"

He sighed, but levered himself to his feet - albeit clearly reluctantly - and placed his hand on my shoulder. He smelt much like I imagined I did, sweaty and gross. "Believe it or not, there is a point to everything I'm telling you. We'll be able to leave once we find a payphone, that'll tell us where we need to go to get back to our own time. But, Q _will_ call us back to Psyren again and again - this is my eighteenth trip to this place, and it only gets worse over time."

I felt tears well up, and I quickly scrubbed a hand over my face, to clear it of any excess moisture. _You fucking wuss, crying's not going to change a damn thing, except make Vito think you're a worthless weakling!_

"When you come back, we may not be close. And you may be found by Tavoo, and if that happens you'll need to defend yourself. Once you've awakened your PSI, you can use it to fight back - it's a power that can grant you so much power, and you _need_ to learn to use it. Okay?"

"... Okay." _For now._

"Okay, I'm going to run over the three basic types..."

Vito went through everything step-by-step, explaining it as he'd been taught when he first came to Psyren. The three basic types were Burst, Rise, and Trance, which I mentally dubbed 'Spiritual, Physical, Mental.' Burst was to do with using PSI to affect the outside world - manifesting energy, using telekinesis, any number of uses, including bizarre specialties that people could gain. Rise used PSI to affect your physical body, enhancing your senses - i.e. Sight, hearing, etc. - or your physical attributes - strength, speed, and so on. A vital use of Rise was enhancing your reaction times and healing factor, which would let you fight so much more effectively against the mindless, unrelenting Tavoo. Trance, meanwhile, used PSI to affect the mind, whether it be your own or someone else's. Telepathy, Mind control, Remote viewing, Prediction, Illusions - the list went on. Trance, Vito said, was the most difficult aspect to learn.

"Using PSI is about three things." Vito told me, holding up three fingers. "Concentration, Visualization, and Projection. So you want to Concentrate on your intention, Visualize what you're trying to do, and then Project the energy within you into completing that task. So first we'll focus on- Oh."

"What?" I blinked, startled out of my enraptured state. _Hey, it's not every day someone tells you how to become a wizard_. "Is there something on my face?"

"Yeah." He smiled, softly. "Blood."

I touched my fingers to my face, and they came away with a thin layer of wet crimson. "Huh." I said, and collapsed.

When I woke up, it was to see Vito standing and arguing with another woman, decked out in a ragged dress, torn sleeves and bare feet. I blinked wearily - it looked like we'd changed location as well, we were inside now, rubble strewn across the room and the roof slanting down fairly severely.

"We don't need some kid tagging along, Vito!" The woman was yelling, her arms crossed in a clearly confrontational manner. "W.I.S.E. is out there! They are hunting for us right now! If we have to take care of another inexperienced drifter then they are _going to catch us._ "

"Yoko, we can't just abandon him. If the Tavoo don't get him, W.I.S.E. will, and if they don't, then he'll die of thirst." Vito explained, his hand touching her upper arm. _That's some emotional manipulation shit right there, Vito._ "If we leave him behind, we're giving him a death sentence."

"So what do you want to do with him then, huh?" 'Yoko' seems to be losing patience. _Kinda callous, lady. It's not like I asked to be put in this fucking nightmare!_ "Take him to the Root, introduce him to Granny Tenjuin? What if he's a humanoid Tavoo, huh?!"

"Do you see any Illumina on his body? It's kinda hard to miss a giant, glowing sphere embedded in someone's skin!" Vito retorted, growing a little more irritated. "I just want to brief him on PSI - he's already awakened, we just need to teach him how to use it, and then he can practice the rest on his own!"

"..." She was wavering. I could tell. _Please... Please..._ "Fine." _Yes!_ "But if he slows us down, we drop him _immediately_."

Vito smiled at her. She remained stern. "You get all that, Adam?" _!_

"Oh, um, yes, sir, ma'am." I blurted out, jerking into a seated position from where I had been, apparently unsuccessfully, been trying to appear asleep. "... Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt, and screw things up."

Yoko sighed. "It's... It's fine. I'm just stressed out because we've had a W.I.S.E. on our asses the last few times we've drifted." She cleared her throat, looking embarrassed. _Because she was so resistant to helping me out? Or... Vito?_ "I'm Chiyoko."

"Adam," I replied, clambering into a standing position and shaking her hand. She nodded.

"Well, Adam, I hope you're ready." She smiled slightly. "I've taught a lot of drifters and PSI users how to use Burst successfully, and that ain't gonna change now."

It wasn't a nice smile.

Concentration.

 _The rubble fixed itself in my mind. The world around it disappeared, that one chunk of jagged stone becoming the only thing I knew.  
_  
Visualization.

 _In my mind's eye, the stone wavered. The top corner lifted, and the whole thing stood upright on a single point. Then, slowly, it lifted into the air, trembling like a leaf in the wind as it did so.  
_  
Projection.

 _I saw the power in my mind. It suffused everything. It flowed out of me, along the sharply defined path I had visualized, into the specific pattern I had envisioned- and enforced it's will upon the world.  
_  
The stone rose eight centimetres into the air.

I remained in my position, half-kneeling on the floor, gaze focused utterly on that single stone, sweat pouring down my face like a waterfall.

Then Yoko let out out a cheer of happiness, and I fell to my hands and knees. "Oh my god! It worked! It actually fucking worked!"

"Well done, Adam! That was pretty fast - you sure you're a newbie?" Yoko said, grinning. The stress lines on her face had disappeared, and her whole visage was so much softer. _She could forget about the constant stress whilst she had a specific goal to focus on... ... ... She's actually very pretty.  
_  
"You did well, kid." Vito smiled, resting one massive hand on my shoulder. "You did good."

I sighed in relief. "Alright what's next?"

"Next," Vito straightened up, stretching out his arms above his head. "Is-"

 ***BOOM*  
**  
Instantly, Yoko and Vito were on the defense. I was backed up against a well, both of them facing out, looking through the various holes dotting the walls to get an appraisal of the situation. Vito had fallen into a martial arts pose, while Yoko had her hands raised in front of her, some kind of weird vapour crystallizing before her.

The front of the building was shorn entirely off, torn from the rest of the building by enormous talons, that cracked the stone between them. The talons were connected to an enormous hand, an enormous arm, a body shaped like a whale but much, much bigger - supported entirely on what looked like _fins.  
_  
"Adam," Vito said lowly, dangerously. "Stay back. Yoko and I will take care of this- _don't_ try to help."

"O-Okay..." I murmured, my gaze fixed on the enormous thing before me. _Please... After all this... I don't wanna die!  
_  
And then Vito was gone, blurring before my eyes and darting towards the thing. He left an audible sonic boom in his wake, and I caught sight of a punch landing on things torso - he left a visible dent, and I could _feel_ the force of his blow vibrate through my entire body. _Is this... The power of PSI?  
_  
"It'll be okay, Adam." Yoko smiled at me softly. "Vito is a strong Rise user, he won't be beaten by some giant Tavoo."

I nodded, still shaken- but reassured. "He'll be fine..." Yoko murmured, continuing but looking now at Vito, as though unsure. "He'll be-"

 ** _*pop*_**

She was gone.

Yoko was gone. She'd just disappeared. She was just- just- _gone._

 _No... Yoko...!  
_  
"Hm." A new voice mused, behind me. "She looked strong. It's a good thing she was too focused on the other maggot to notice that I was preparing my teleportation."

I froze, my joints locking up. Then, inexorably, my head creaked round to stare at the voice in wide-eyed horror- a tall blond man, in flowing silver and black robes, wearing bizarre, angular headphones, a look of apathetic disdain locked upon his features.

"You, on the other hand, look _very_ weak." The man said. "How have you survived so long without strength?" I said nothing, remaining still and frozen as the man stared down at me. "Well, whatever. I don't care, so goodbye."

He raised a hand in my direction, and all I could do was stare at as I _felt_ power begin to gather around him, his hand beginning to glow softly-

And then he stopped.

"You know..." He said, casually, conversationally. "There is a little trick I've been considering for a while, but I haven't tested it out." He shrugged. "Just stand still, I don't want you to mess this up."

He held both hands out straight in front of him, palms facing each other. I watched with growing trepidation as a hexagon of pure energy grew between his hands, almost meeting his hands. The sheer, metaphysical _weight_ of the thing was immense - I could practically feel it tugging at my PSI with it's gravitational pull.

And then it cracked, and everything _changed_.

Reality ruptured, time ceases to exist - _everything_ ceased to exist. The world blurred and shifted, and I along with it, morphing into 4-dimensional shapes unfathomable to the human mind.

And in the midst of it-

" **Dimensional Rift** "

 _Darkness-_

 _Light-_

 _Fear-_

 _ **Anger-  
**_  
And everything snapped back into focus, just in time for me to double over and void my guts over the _gorgeous_ red carpet, dizziness and nausea hitting me like a fucking _truck_.

 _Jesus Christ, will this nightmare never end?!  
_  
I straightened up slowly, awkwardly. Two men in dark suits were facing me, alongside a scantily-dressed blonde woman. _Damn, this is a nice clubroom. Is that a bar?  
_  
"S-Sorry there, gents..." I mumbled. "I think I... Might be a bit lost..."

I didn't get a chance to hear the woman's reply, as the ground rushed up to meet my face and darkness clouded my vision.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

I awoke in a bed, my entire body one big aching mess. I groaned in pain as my senses came alive, sending messages to my brain that I imagined were along the lines of, _AAAAAAHHHHHH! IT'S ALL ON FIRE! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!_

Well fuck you, body, I'm getting up!

I began to try to sit up, but the strain placed on my poor, poor muscles was too much, and having barely reached a forty-five degree angle, I collapsed back to lie flat once more. _Okay, maybe I can lie down for a little longer._

I closed my eyes, and contented myself to rest.

...

I was dreaming of darkness. Absolutely nothing. A totally empty void - except for one teenager floating in the night.

Me.

I couldn't see depth. There was no light, but I could see my own body. There were no shadows cast - everything was perfectly lit in the same brightness, despite the lack of light sources.

No, wait, there was light... Behind me...

My body turned, heedless of whatever logic applied in this place. Behind me lay a sphere of pure white, perhaps the size of my head, glowing faintly in the darkness. It gave off an odd sort of... Pressure, as well, pushing up against my body in whatever this magical dream place was. It felt almost like a buffeting wind blowing against me, despite the lack of sensation here.

I floated towards it with a thought, a strange sense of wonderment filling me up inside. _Could this be... PSI? It's... Incredible..._

 _How impressive._ A woman's voice said from behind me. Not the phone operator - no, this was someone else. I whirled, and before me stood a crystalline, diamond-like figure of a woman, smiling at me.

Maybe. The transparency made it hard to tell.

 _What... What's going on? Who are you?_ I asked, feeling frantic. My day today had just been a constant stream of weirdness, so at this point I wasn't even surprised.

The glass woman observed me for a moment, then shimmered and became a normal, flesh and blood person. She was wearing a white robe draped almost _haphazardly_ over her body, blood hair immaculately positioned to look simultaneously beautiful and accidental.

A property of this weird dream? Or was just the kind of person who actually did that?

 _A little bit of both, I think._ The woman smirked. Her mouth didn't move, but I heard the words loud and clear. _Emma Frost._

 _What the fuck?_ I thought. _Fucking hell, I just want to know what's going on!_

 _So would I._ She replied, drifting closer.

 _Oh, shit. You heard that?_ I blinked wildly, waving my hands in front of my face. _Um, I mean, uh, sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude, I just-_

 _You can't hide your thoughts in this place._ Emma said, smiling and gesturing around her. _It's why we're here, after all. I want to ask you some questions._

I started. _She can... I mean, you can read minds?_

 _Yes. My mutation grants me telepathy and the ability to transform into living diamond._

 _Mutation?_

 _Yes. I'm surprised you don't know - my colleagues and I are all mutants, the next stage of human evolution, having been granted extraordinary powers._

 _Wow..._

 _Eloquent._ Emma smirked, and I felt a momentary flash of indignant annoyance, before a rush of guilt.

I had to remember this lady could read my mind. _I can't let my temper get the better of me... Um, I mean-_

 _Don't worry about it,_ she said, her smirk softening into a smile. _I don't want to antagonize you- I just want to ask you some questions._

 _Okay, okay._ I replied, letting out a heaving sigh. _Go ahead._

 _To start with, who are you? What's your name?_

 _I'm... A guy who's very, very lost._ I replied with a heavy heart. _Adam._

 _Adam, then._ Emma smiled. _Welcome to the Hellfire Club._


	2. Chapter 2

"Show me." Sebastian Shaw said, sipping from a squat glass of burgundy liquid.

I nodded, and let out a shaky breath. _Concentration, Visualization, Projection. Just remember that, and you won't_ fuck _this up, Adam._

I didn't raise my hands- it would have been an unnecessary distraction. Instead, I focused on the wine glass, letting everything else fall away. I visualized the glass lifting into the air, doing a single rotation, and coming back to rest on the varnished wooden table. Then I projected my PSI along the PSI along the path I had set.

Projecting PSI was a... Difficult feeling to explain. I could already feel it inside me - a kind of comfortable pressure, boundless energy, that just rested at the back of my head. When I Visualized a path for my PSI, I was kind of... Inducing that energy in the air around me. The power didn't flow from me, per se, instead I created it where I wanted to use it. Projecting, then, was manipulating that energy into the form I desired - in this case, lifting a wine glass into the air, rotating it vertically, _and..._ Having it come to rest.

I felt a clap on my back. "Good _work_ ," Shaw said, a smile on his face. "Good work, Adam."

I felt a little overwhelmed. Riptide and Azazel had already shown me what they could do, and in comparison to the simple and fairly small-scale things I could do? I felt... Inadequate. _Is this what's called 'Mutation Envy?'_

Riptide could generate whirlwinds. It was something to do with spinning, I knew that much, and if he wanted to create a really massive one he could spin himself, otherwise he could just rotate his hand a get a fairly decent gust blowing. Azazel was a teleporter, which didn't sound necessarily impressive, ( _what, did I want him to breathe fire and solve world hunger too?_ ) but the way he had - apparently - used it was devastating. I was reminded briefly of the man I had encountered in Psyren, and an involuntary shiver wracked my body. _Just forget it about it, Adam. What's important now is figuring out where the hell you are, and how to get home. If that means cozying up to these 'mutants?' So be it._

I froze, and glanced over at Emma. Fortunately, she seemed involved in some conversation on the phone, so I didn't have to worry about her overhearing my thoughts.

"Really?" I asked Sebastian, hesitantly. "It seems so... Weak, compared to what the others can do."

"I'm sure, Adam." Sebastian's grin widened. "You're still young, your mutation has yet to mature. The key is _practice_ \- you have to do it whenever you can, as often as you can. If you're talking to the others, try levitating something at the same time. If you're reading a book, hold it up with your powers. Anytime you can."

"I just..." I began cautiously. "I feel like there's _more_ to what I can do."

Sebastian's eyebrows raised. "More than just telekinesis?" He paused, rubbing a hand over his chin contemplatively. "If your mutation is broader than merely telekinesis, that would make you a powerful mutant indeed." He seemed to concentrate for a moment, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. "For now, practice your telekinesis. If you feel something more develop, let me or Emma know, and we'll develop it together. Okay?"

"Okay." I smiled at him, relief filling my body, even for such a small gesture. "I... I just want to thank you, Mr. Shaw. You don't even know me - and I literally appeared out of nowhere in your club - but you're still being so nice to me, and letting me stay here, and..." _Holy shit, I am getting choked up? Come on, man, thank the guy properly!_

"Don't worry about it." Shaw clapped me on the shoulder. "Us mutants have to stick together, right? It's not like the humans will." He moved away, heading over to where Emma was still on the phone and smoothly swapping his brandy for the device. I smiled, nervous and a little guilty, at his back. _I don't want to lie to the guy, but... I just can't buy into his hate of humans. If I don't pretend to, though, is he gonna kick me out?_

"Feeling guilty?" A voice behind me said. I turned to see Riptide, leaning against the doorframe to the upper floor, arms crossed.

"Uh..." I replied, eloquently.

"I did, too, when Mr. Shaw first picked me up." He shook his head. "i couldn't really wrap my head around hating humans - I still thought of myself as one of them, just with a little extra. But time went on. I participated in a lot of Mr. Shaw's missions, his various political dealings- I've been his bodyguard for a long time now. And one thing I've learnt, is most humans just... Don't understand us." He paused, and his face took on a darker visage. "And they fear what they don't understand. And they hate what they fear." He flicked his eyes back up to me. "Don't worry about the morals of the Hellfire Club, at least for now. Mr. Shaw doesn't care if you don't hate humans, but... I think that you'll find out what they're really like, soon enough."

I hesitated. Riptide _had_ been trying to reassure me, even if his message was... Odd. And a little scary. "Thanks, Riptide." _Hey, at least the guy was genuine._

"Just call me Janos," he replied, a smile turning his cheek. "When we're not on a mission, at least."

"So, Riptide is just, like, a codename?" I asked, a little confused. I mean, I knew intellectually that Riptide and Azazel _probably_ weren't their real names - I guess I just hadn't really grasped that they served some other purpose.

"Yup." Janos smiled slightly. "It's what Mr. Shaw calls me whenever we need to intimidate someone, get a donation from someone, get someone to visit the club - he's been stepping up those kinds of things recently, and he likes to have backup when he does. You'll probably need one at some point."

"A codename?" I murmured, turning the idea over in my mind. "Like a superhero..."

"Hm?" Janos asked, having not quite heard what I said.

"Uh- Nothing," I replied, flashing him a smile. _Superhero, superhero... Why does that sound so... Strange? Familiar, even?  
_  
"Well, anyway, like Mr. Shaw said, you'll need to practice. Follow me." With that, Janos pushed off of the doorframe, and walked back into the stairwell. I stood as well, hesitantly, glanced over to where Emma and Mr. Shaw were still absorbed with the documents and phone call, then walked after Janos. I noticed Azazel's eyes follow me as I left, unreadable and mysterious.

Janos took me round some side passage, through a doorway that I _somehow_ hadn't noticed before, and down a set of stairs. As we descended, the light become harsher and less warm, fluorescent white rather than a soft yellow. The ground transitioned to concrete, leaving behind the lush red carpet of the clubroom, and darkening.

Finally we emerged into a large room, extending in every direction to a fairly ridiculous amount. The room was _enormous_ , hewn from rock and sparse - decorated minimalistically with dark walls and floors, of some smooth and unidentifiable material. Vinyl, or lino, or something? Maybe?

There were mannequins strewn across the surface, leaning against walls, standing free, or scattered in pieces. It looked like a storm had come through and wrecked this place. _Wait... A storm?  
_  
"You like?" Janos asked, having moved into the centre of the room and called across it to me. "Me and Azazel come down here sometimes to practice. Even Mr. Shaw uses it sometimes. And now we're gonna use it for you."

"What, for my telekinesis? I... Don't think I can lift up a whole mannequin quite yet." I professed, flushing a little in embarassment.

"That's fine," Janos reassured me with a smile. "When Mr. Shaw first picked me up, I could barely knock over a few pieces of paper. And now?" He smirked, turned towards the majority of mannequins, and flicked one hand out straight. From nothing, lashing winds whipped out, curling into a vortex of wind and rushing air, whipping Janos' hair this way and that and practically deafening me, as noise like a jet engine or thunder rumbled across the space. After a moment, the cyclone tore itself free of his hand and barreled through the cavern, catching mannequins in its wake and either trapping them in the tornado or flinging them out, where they smashed against the walls and shattered into their composite parts. After only a couple of seconds, the barrage of wind had reached the other side of the chamber, and Janos turned his hand over, settling the winds and flattening the turbulence.

I was left standing there, hair windswept and blasted straight back, clothes ruffled from the intense gusts.

"Woah." I breathed, my eyes wide. _I could lift objects with my mind, but... This?_

 _This was something_ else _.  
_  
"Soon enough," Riptide said - and how could I think of him as anything _but_ a Riptide, now? - strolling over to my position near the entrance. "You'll be able to do something just as impressive. Imagine lifting up every single one of these mannequins, carrying them around and flinging them wherever you please."

"... Awesome..." Was my response. The _only_ possible response at the thought. "When can we start?"

Janos grinned. It wasn't a smirk, or a softer smile this time- no, this was a grin of savage pleasure. "Right now," he replied.

 _Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?_

 _Because you do fucking regret this, you idiot!  
_  
I lay back, gasping in exhaustion, a sheen of sweat coating my entire body, a burning headache pinching at my brain, and a _desperately_ dry throat burning for attention.

Yet despite all of that, my body itself didn't hurt. I had no aching muscles, no burning limbs- I wasn't even _cramping_. None of the symptoms I usually associated with the rare visit to the gym - no, this exercise had been purely mental. Flinging around mannequins with my mind might not have _sounded_ tiring in theory, but in practice, the constant strain at my head was far more taxing than any physical exercise could ever be.

"You alright there, Adam?" Janos asked, leaning over me and blotting out the fluorescent bulbs hanging overhead. Bright coloured spots danced in my vision regardless. "It's only been..." He checked his watch. "Four hours, and you're this tired? Yeesh, we're gonna have to step things up tomorrow."

"Step... Things... Up!?" I gasped incredulously, half sitting up to gape at Janos. "Are you... Fucking kidding me?!"

The session had started pretty well, all things considered. Janos had started me off with something relatively simple, picking up limbs and moving them as far as I could, then picking up something else and repeating. Once I'd been able to move things a decent distance across the room - about three-quarters of the way from one side to another - he had moved on to getting me to move things as quickly as I could. At first, it took me a full ten seconds to finish moving one thing and go on to the next, but as we went through, I was able to strain myself faster and faster, cutting it down to a three second delay before picking up another item. By that point I was already sweating heavily, gasping for breath despite not having moved from my spot.

That was when things got difficult.

"Mutations," Janos began. "Often reveal hidden depths when the mutants are under a lot of strain. Danger can bring out hidden aspects of your power that you never knew existed."

I was sceptical, in part because I wasn't sure my powers _actually_ counted as a mutation, and in part because that sounded like an excuse to do dangerous shit without repercussions. But- and it galled me a little to admit it- his methods worked.

He started tossing me things, getting me to catch them in midair. The first item - a head - I didn't catch in time, and it hit me square in the forehead.

After that, I started catching them with more consistency. Pain was a powerful motivator.

He would throw the mannequin limb, I would catch it with my mind and drop it to the side, he would throw another. I cut down the time it took to grab something even more, dropping it to less than a second in order to catch the limbs he was tossing at me. Then Janos stepped it up again.

The limbs came faster, two at a time, three, and it was all I could do to stop them before they hit me. A pile of limbs started up in front of my position at the end of the chamber, as I robbed them of their momentum before I got hit again. I wasn't perfect - I received quite a few smacks to the face before I got the technique down pat, flickering an invisible wall of force in front of my face at the exact moment before I would be hit. The effort and concentration required to do so meant that I didn't notice the other limb fly out of nowhere into my left side, right from the blindspot.

It smacked me in the side of the face and fully bowled me over, knocking me flat on my back. I propped myself up on my elbows to see Azazel standing there, arm outstretched.

"More concentration required." He said, and something akin to a smirk fluttered across his face, before he was gone in a puff of black and red.

"... What an asshole." I muttered, and Janos let out a startled laugh.

"Azazel isn't an asshole." Janos replies, a small smile still on his face. "He just likes making sure everyone's prepared."

"Hnnn..." I grunt in pain as I maneuver myself to my feet. "Fair... Enough. Let's... Let's get back to it."

Janos nods, and we return to practice.

"Riptide." A feminine voice spoke up from the entrance to the cavern, a note of amusement in her voice. "Don't you think it's about time to finish?"

I turned to see Emma standing at the entrance to the clearing, arms folded, and in some kind of casual white robe. I stay where I am, slightly hunched over, my clothes soaked through with sweat, and pool of it forming between my feet, and my whole face bruising from the repeated knocks to the face. Janos, however, immediately nods, and walks over to the stairwell, silent. He bowed ever-so-slightly to Emma, then ascended the stairs.

"Come on, Adam." She said. "I'll show you to your room."

"Alright," I replied, heading over to the stairs laboriously. I was exhausted, and the prospect of falling into bed to rest my weary... Mind... Was a fairly attractive one.

We walked up in a... Somewhat awkward silence. Awkward for me, at least. I wasn't sure _what_ Emma was thinking.

 _I'm thinking,_ the voice in my head said, _that you have a surprising psychic presence.  
_  
"Uh-" I started, and then paused. _Are you listening to my thoughts?_

 _Yes._ She replied, still sounding weirdly amused. _It's much easier for me to access your mind than any other's, mutant or human._

 _What does that mean?_ I wondered... Aloud? She could hear it, so... _It's so weird to have a conversation this way._

 _Indeed._ Emma replied, and I cursed at forgetting _again_ that she was in amongst my thoughts. _To answer your question, though, it may mean you have the potential to be a telepath.  
_  
I stopped. Furiously, I focused on the wall in front of me, _not_ thinking about that unmemorable event that may or may not have happened in the past.

 _... You're avoiding thinking about something._ Emma noted, the amusement gone, and annoyance now present in full force.

 _You can tell?_ I asked, legitimately surprised. _Can't you just read my memories or something?_

 _Please._ Emma said, still sounding a little annoyed. _I know basic mental etiquette. If someone doesn't want you looking at something, don't look at it. I'll trust you for now, and not dig deeper._

 _... Thank you._ I replied, surprised by her sincerity.

We walked in silence to my room.

The weird thing I'd noticed, over my time in the Hellfire Club, was a distinct lack of technology. There were no televisions, no computers, barely any phones - Emma and Mr. Shaw had been using one of those old-timey landlines, where you have to pull the ring round to dial the numbers. I'd kinda assumed at the time it was just the vintage aesthetic they were going for - sipping scotch from thick glasses, lush red carpeting, a kind of traditional, high-society vibe.

But now? I wasn't so sure. There hadn't been a hint of _any_ technology, modern pieces at least, so I was left to wonder... _Where was I? When was I?_

I had so little information about my situation that I'd kinda put off thinking about it, but it was unavoidable now. All the shit that had happened over the past few days... It was like something out of a fucking nightmare. A woman on a payphone, disappearing to some wasteland _hellscape,_ getting fucking superpowers _(and why did that sound so weird?)_ and then being shunted to some weird, backwards, antiquated club run by genetic mutants who _also_ had superpowers.

Was I on drugs? Was I dreaming right now?

I could have denied it. Rejected the whole situation, everything that had happened recently, consigned it to some far corner of my mind where it could never emerge and bother me again. Huddled up into a ball again and ignored everything around me.

But that's what I had done in... 'Psyren,' and look where that had gotten me. Displaced to some new and different place _again_ , this time in the past rather than the future. And I was no closer to figuring out how to get home. _Not that you've even been trying, idiot! How exactly have you been searching for a way home, huh? How?  
_  
Maybe I couldn't get back home. The one that had sent me here - the guy in the silver robes - was still in Psyren. And I was here, a world away. Maybe there was no way to return them - maybe it was a one way trip.

If it was, could I accept staying here? Among these strangers, who believed me one of them? As a member of, 'the Hellfire Club?'

Maybe.

I drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

 _So tell me,_ Emma said. _Why_ did _you try not to think about that memory the other day?  
_  
We were in town. And I had finally figured out where I was - it would have been difficult not to, what with the name strung up in gaudy, brightly-lit letters all over the place. Las Vegas, Nevada.

1962\. The fucking sixties, in America.

I was a British teenager! I knew nothing about how to act damn near sixty years ago! In America!

Emma was accompanying me. Apparently there was a tailor in town that she trusted, and I needed a change of clothes. I had to admit, the ratty, dusty, torn clothes I had been wearing were beginning to look like they were in need of a wash.

And by that, of course, I meant that they were basically unwearable. Janos had been kind enough to lend me some of his old, casual clothes for me to wear into town, so Emma and I had set out to procure a suit - Mr. Shaw likes his employees looking as professional as possible of course.

I'd nearly objected to being called an employee, but thought better of it at the last moment.

 _Well_ , I replied, letting Emma pick up on my thoughts. _I was thinking about what someone told me... About my powers._

 _What someone_ else _told you?_ She asked, surprise being conveyed across the mental link. _Where they some kind of expert on mutant powers?_

 _It's..._ I paused. _Hard to explain._

 _Try._ She responded, a hint of steel conveying itself. I understood that she might have been willing to not pry herself, but if I wanted them to trust me, I knew I couldn't hide everything.

 _... Ok._ I took a breath, trying to organize my thoughts - a difficult task when you knew a mind-reader was watching. _So... I don't know how most... Uh... Mutants find out about their powers, but for me it was... Very sudden.  
_  
I paused, wondering if Emma was going to interrupt and tell me how the average mutant did, but she seemed content to let me finish first.

 _I... Was transported from my home to... Some ruined, deserted wasteland - maybe a desert - without warning. Once there, I encountered another... Mutant, who seemed to know that I had powers._ I paused, trying to figure out what to say next. _He, along with another woman, taught me how to use my powers_ at all _, though obviously not any intense training, just how to activate them. However... Before I could_ continue _my training, we were interrupted by some giant... Lizard, worm, dragon... Thing, controlled by... I suppose, another mutant. Whilst the man who had trained me was fighting off the worm, the woman disappeared - and I mean literally, just vanished - and the man confronted me. He said he wanted to... Try out some technique he'd learnt, and when he used it, I... Ended up here.  
_  
Emma was silent. Whether that was because she didn't believe me, and was wondering how best to take me out and present my head to Mr. Shaw, or because she was just processing it all? I didn't know.

After a silence a little longer than thirty seconds, during which I very much non-awkwardly observed the daylight Vegas landscape. It's a lot less sexy when the sun is pounding down on everything like a ton of bricks.

 _You are telling the truth._ Emma finally... Thought. _But you're also holding things back. Unfortunately, I can't tell which, so I suppose whatever you're hiding will stay hidden, unless I want to seriously damage you._

 _... Thanks?_ I replied, a little confused as to whether to be grateful or insulted.

 _You're welcome,_ she replied, amusement creeping back into her voice, and I _felt_ the tension drop several hundred degrees. _So! What does that have to do with the 'not thinking about this' that was going on yesterday?_

 _Well._ I began, wondering how to pull this off successfully. The only strategy I could think of, was...

Feign ignorance?

Perfect.

 _The guy who taught me about my powers... He seemed to think that there were a bunch of ways I could develop them, and that my telekinesis_ (and holy shit, even thinking 'my telekinesis' is the most incredible feeling) _was just one facet of them. He... Apparently... Identified three directions they could go in - further down this, 'external force' route, where I could develop control over other sources of energy and forces, down an 'internal force' route where I could enhance my own physical capabilities... And down a 'mental force' route, wherein I would become capable of telepathy, remote viewing, prediction... You get the gist.  
_  
Emma was silent once more, and this time I could tell it was a stunned one. I found myself observing the numerous casinos and restaurants awkwardly once more.

The tailor was an odd fellow. A short man, ruddy-faced and with a bad comb-over, who took my measurements and then showed Emma the possibilities. Not me! Emma Frost. She then, obviously, chose the best one of the bunch, but that was besides the point. A man should be able to choose what suit he gets, right?

It was as we were leaving the shop, and turning the corner to cut through an alley, that something incredible happened.

Emma was searching through her purse, looking for some item or another, and I was patiently waiting for her to be done. Out of the shadows, though...

"Give us the purse, and we don't have to hurt you." The first guy said, his voice guttural and menacing. In one hand he held a snub-nosed revolver, held low and pointed in our general direction. He was tall and thickly built, with broad shoulders, a nine-o'clock shadow, and a prominent gut. His hair was dark and cropped short, and he glared with a distinctly frightening gaze directly at me. I mentally dubbed him Gutsy.

The other guy was reedy, but just as tall. He had a knife, not a gun, and his hair was gelled almost vertically up, his thin face marred by an intense expression of anger. I mentally dubbed him Reedy.

I glanced at Emma, who had stopped rooting through her purse, and was looking blankly at Gutsy. I caught her eye and grinned.

She snickered, and that set me off into a full-blown chuckle, which gradually developed into a loud gout of laughter. _Holy shit, out of everyone in this city,_ we _get robbed!_

 _This is too funny. Please, please tell me this a joke._ Even her mental voice sounded breathless with laughter.

 _Let me take them. Please._ I begged, twitching still with now muted laughter.

"Ya think this is funny?!" Reedy snapped out, practically vibrating in place. "We're threatenin' ya life here!"

"Oh, please, you couldn't threaten your way out of a paper bag." I smirked at him, challengingly. The knowledge that I could so easily overpower him just rendered the 'threat...' Insignificant.

 _Go ahead._ Emma replied, mirthfully. _It'll be good practice, anyway.  
_  
"You don't seem to understand your situtation, here," Gutsy growled, but I interrupted.

"No, you don't seem to understand." My smirk widened into a full-blown grin. "You just tried to mug two of the least vulnerable people in this entire city. Look, I'll show you."

I raised my right hand, and unleashed hell.


	3. Chapter 3

"You know where Azazel gets his name from?" I asked, a little breathlessly, as I caught and juggled three mannequin heads with my telekinesis.

Janos launched two more at me with his _surprisingly_ powerful throwing arm. "Uh, I'm not sure. It's biblical, I know that. Was it the name of some demon, or something?" I launched all the heads - five, now - directly at Janos, single file, hoping to catch him with sheer numbers. He whipped up a zephyr and caught all of them, flinging the heads behind him without any difficulty. He used the gust to buffet himself to the side, starting into a sprint parallel to my stationary position.

"No, actually." I replied, backing off without taking my eyes off the guy. He was a slippery sonuvabitch. _Did I get the lingo right? That's how Americans say it, right?_ "Azazel was one of the Watchers, an Archangel of God. The Angel of Sacrifices, specifically." Janos launched another pair of zephyrs that zipped toward either side of me- I flashed a wide, solid wall of force in front of them, catching most of the gust, letting the remaining winds buffet me ineffectually. I kept up my retreat.

"Huh." Janos paused, thoughtful. I stopped too, breathing heavily, wary of Janos but unwilling to enact a counterattack. "Y'know, I guess that kinda fits. Azazel has sacrificed a lot to get to where he is now."

I paused at that, briefly wondering what kinda things he'd done. But Janos didn't elaborate, so I assumed he wasn't going to continue. I opened my mouth to ask, and suddenly Riptide darted forward, winds building up in his palms and pushing him like a jet. I balked, throwing myself to the side, but he loosed one of the whirlwinds and caught me by the foot, flinging me around and into a wall. I repulsed myself with a blast of telekinesis at the last minute, but my arm grazed the wall at high speed, causing me to hiss in pain.

I landed in a crouched position, shaking my arm even as I could see a welt begin to form, the surface of my forearm becoming shiny and stretched. I glared at Janos in faux-shock.

"Why'd you bring it up, anyway?" Janos asked, folding his arms as he waited for me to finish my posing. I straightened, now a little embarrassed.

"Well," I started, rubbing the back of my head and half-turning away. "It got me thinking. There are, like, a shitton of archangels, and each one represents something. There's this one I remember specifically... Hasmed, Angel of Annihilation. And, since Azazel already, kinda, _started_ the theme... I wanted to continue it." It was dumb to be embarrassed about this stuff, I knew that, but... Hey, I'm young, I can get embarrassed over lots of things unnecessarily.

"You want that as your codename?" Janos asked voice guardedly neutral. He also didn't sound judgemental, which I counted as a good thing. "I guess there's nothing to stop you from taking it... And it's suitably pretentious, too." He chuckled, and I flushed red at his reaction.

"Whatever." I muttered gruffly. "Let's just get on with the training, okay?"

I turned to look at Janos, only to see a pair of enormous, interlocking vortices whirling towards me faster than I could react, ready to trap me between them and whip me in two different directions. _Oh, shit._ I thought. _Not enough time to-!  
_  
I poured PSI inside my own body. I didn't know where the instinct came from, but I just knew I needed more _time._ The PSI coiled inside my gut, pausing momentarily, before flooding into my head. I could feel it flowing inside me, a curious pressure and energy marking it's passage. And as it expanded to fill the inside of my skull, everything slowed down.

The spinning gales slowed to a crawl, inching towards me at with the barest hint of speed, turning lazily next to each other. Janos' superior smirk froze on his face, the smug look in his eyes ceasing it's twinkle. Everything had decelerated - including myself. My eyes tracked around the room at a leisurely pace, but my mind buzzed with possibility and activity. I needed to get out of the way of Riptide's storm, but by the time I could bring my telekinesis to bear and launch myself away, I would be caught between the bluster and slammed against the wall again.

I needed a more immediate solution. _So I gave myself one.  
_  
I crouched in an unrushed movement, seeing my knees bend at a snail's pace. With a thought, the PSI in my brain coursed down my spine and into my legs, wrapping around my thigh and calf muscles. The world around me quickened, but enough PSI remained in my mind to keep it from moving at full speed. All at once, I straightened my legs, flexed my PSI, and _soared.  
_  
I flew at least twenty feet, jettisoning my own body at enormous speed out of the path of the winds. At the same time, Even as everything began to speed up once more, I twisted my PSI externally, and flicked a mannequin head with my telekinesis into Janos' gut.

I landed heavily on my legs, half-collapsing to my side, to the sound of Riptide letting out a hacking cough. I heaved heavy breaths of my own, sweat pouring down into my eyes, and I massaged my legs with a grunt of pain - they suddenly ached with physical exertion, and the cramps were _fucking real-!  
_  
"What-" Janos coughed again. "What was that?!" He stared at me with no small amount of shock, rubbing his stomach. I barely stopped the victorious gloat from escaping my lips.

"That..." I began, with relish. "Was, I suppose, another facet of my powers." With that, I grinned, panting and sweating, but still victorious.

Janos stood there a moment.

"You know, all you did was knock the wind out of me." He pointed out. "Other than that, I'm basically fine, and you're exhausted.

I paused.

"Let me have this, okay?" I retorted weakly.

 _Another aspect of your powers?_ Emma asked, a slight expression of amusement and annoyance leaking through in her tone. _You're becoming quite the enigma, Adam._

 _Thanks?_ I replied, then shook my head. _Anyway, isn't that what we're trying to do here? Bring another dimension of my... Mutation to the forefront?  
_  
Ever since the incident in the alleyway a few days ago, Emma had been tutoring me in the mental characteristics of my powers. Or, at least, trying to. All she could really do was share her own experiences with psychic events, and how her own powers emerged. We were currently sitting on my bed, cross-legged and facing each other. She'd been trying to tease the capability out of me, in a complicated mental manoeuvre of probing deeply into my mind, and then drawing out whilst catching as much as my mind as possible in her psychic net. It sounded pretty dangerous to me, but, hey, Emma was the expert.

Now, though, I had an idea. The use of PSI earlier today on my legs and brain had left me with a pounding headache, yes, but it had also given me an idea as to how PSI was truly meant to be used. Using it externally was totally different to using it internally. Externally... The energy came from me, yes, but there was no interaction with my own body. Internally, it was as if the energy was between my skin and my muscles, wrapping around their exterior, but still on the interior of my own body. An intermediate layer, almost. So, maybe if I wanted to use this 'Trance' part of my powers, I had to work on an even deeper layer of my powers.

 _You're considering something,_ Emma transmitted, breaking me out of my reverie. _Something that will help us here?_ I could tell she was somewhat annoyed my attention was elsewhere.

 _... Maybe._ I replied. _Let me try something.  
_  
Emma made a mental gesture of affirmation, and disconnected from my mind. I smiled at her, and shut my eyes. _Deep... Deeper... Deeper..._ I focused inward, trying to tap the deepest well of my PSI and bring it forth from within my mind. _There-!  
_  
A tendril of PSI writhed from within my mind, twisting at a layer of subconscious I hadn't even realized existed. I coaxed it forth, pulling gently at the protuberance with my mind. Slowly... Slowly... It inched outwards, towards the surface of my mind. Finally, it breached the thin layer that separated my mind from the external world, and I felt everything around me _open_. Even with my eyes closed, I could see _everything -_ 360 degree vision was bizarre; it was like seeing the entire world through an enormous fish-eye lens, or like I'd massively upped the Field of Vision on a video game. Still thought, it was incredible. In fact... I could see my own head, eyes closed and bowed slightly, to point at folded hands. I shifted them, self-conscious, and _saw_ the change.

 _Trippy...  
_  
I noticed the gasp of Emma, though, here eyes widening comically, her gaze fixed on whatever I was using to see in this way.

I opened my eyes, and instantly regretted it. The sudden disorientation of having two separate fields of vision, in some endlessly fractal overlay was incredibly unnerving - not to mention _painful_. There wsa an instantaneous pounding on the inside of my skull, as a migraine burst into full fruit at the reaction. _God fucking dammit! Gah! Why is nothing ever painless!?  
_  
I closed my eyes - _both_ sets - and pressed my palms into the sockets. _Ahh... Blessed darkness and lack of stimulation._

 _Adam?_ Emma asked mentally, her psychic probe gentle and non-invasive. _Are you okay?_

 _Yeah..._ I replied, with no small amount of hesitation. _I guess I figured out_ one _part of this mental stuff - remote viewing. I just wish it didn't have to literally split my skull in two to do so.  
_  
Emma chuckled, a little uncertainly. _It was certainly odd, seeing that. A white cord emerged from your head and started hovering in midair, before a black sphere formed at the end of it._ She transmitted a mental image of it, a perfectly round and black sphere about the size of a golf ball, connected to a white cord by what _looked_ like a mock-optic nerve.

 _Huh._ I replied. _I... Guess I'll have to practice with that, right?_ I let a sigh echo across our mental link. _Another thing to add to the list._

 _Do you feel up to continuing, Adam?_ She asked. _We still haven't actually managed to reach telepathy, or any degree of psychic actualization._

 _... Right._ I replied. _Sure, we can continue.  
_  
We settled back into our cross-legged positions, and I resumed trying to get a hold of that mote of PSI residing within my mind.

...

The session continued for another hour and a half, me trying desperately to make contact with Emma's mind unaided, while she tutored me as best as she could. Ultimately, I didn't achieve anything even near telepathy, although I was also able to project my hearing through one of those thin white strings of PSI. Emma theorized that I must have some form of Clairsentience, the ability to project my senses outside of my body, to far distances or hard-to-reach places. No actual psychic progress, though.

Which was, I admit, a disappointment.

Mr. Shaw was entertaining a guest tonight, apparently. A fairly famous guest, apparently - a Colonel in the American military was visiting the Atomic club. Colonel Hendry, though I didn't recognize the name.

I admitted, I hadn't paid much attention to the everyday workings of the club. It was open every few nights, generally to the attendance of several important people, and during this time both Emma and Mr. Shaw were, 'otherwise occupied,' entertaining guests of one sort or another. I listened to the music and the party sounds that drifted down to the sparring chamber or up to my room, but the three of us - Azazel, Janos, and I - were banned from entering. Shaw didn't want to 'tip his hand,' apparently.

Tonight, though, was different. Sebastian was expecting his guest to be recalcitrant, about something or other, and we were on hand to be intimidating as necessary.

"You're not expected to seriously hurt the guy," Mr. Shaw explained to me, a slight smile on his face. "Just follow my lead, and rough him up a bit if needed. Don't be afraid to use your powers - if we can scare him off with a show of force, then we've achieved what we want to achieve." With that, he clapped me on the back and went off to prepare.

I wasn't exactly attracted to the idea of hurting the guy - although, admittedly, a small part of me was looking forward to using my powers, after the rush I'd gotten in that alleyway - but what could I do? I _owed_ Shaw, a hell of a lot in fact - the guy had put me up in massive bedroom, taken care of me despite not giving even the slightest explanation of who I was - for nothing. The least I could do was help him out with this.

And so Shaw had taken us into a lustrous clubroom, gorgously decorated and playing some delightful, timely tune. Janos and I were dressed in tuxedos, lounging at the bar and looking on, although Azazel was nowhere in sight. Emma was in just lingerie, a fact that I had _desperately_ tried to avoid blushing over.

She had brought Hendry in through, and seated him down on a plush couch, placing herself beside him. Hendry was a stolid man, with a close-shaven head and a bit of a gut, alongside small, piggy eyes deepset in his face. He looked fairly disgusting, all things considered.

Sebastian strolled over to the couch, a glass of amber liquid held loosely in one hand, and a bright smile fixed on his face. "You sure we can't get you a refill, Bob?" His grin widened, if that was even possible.

Hendry looked at him, distrusting. "No," was his short and, in my opinion, a little rude reply.

Shaw took the step down to the slightly lowered seating area, pointing at Hendry as he did so. "So, I hear you blocked the proposal to position Jupiter missiles in Turkey." He paused to take a seat, lean back, and sip at his drink. "I expect you'll reconsider."

I followe the conversation with narrowed eyes, Janos remaining steadfast beside me.

"We've had this conversation," Bob replied in a condescending tone. "You put our nukes in Turkey or _anywhere_ that close to Russia, and you're looking at war."

I fought to keep a neutral expression. _Nukes? War? What the fuck have I gotten myself into?  
_  
"Nuclear war." Hendry finished, a little unnecessarily.

"I don't ask for favours, Colonel." I could tell Sebastian was starting to get annoyed. "I express my expectations." He took a breath, and reaffirmed the smile on his face. "So let me say it again." He paused to add gravity to his word. "I _expect_ you'll reconsider."

"The _only_ thing I'll reconsider," he replied, his lips twisting into an irritating smirk. "Is having another glass of that delicious champagne."

 _Smug prick.  
_  
Hendry stood, and I could _feel_ Sebastian's exasperation. He turned to Janos, and made a quick circling motion with his index figure. In response, Riptide lifted a hand, and summoned a small vortex between his fingers, circling his hand to add spin to the zephyr. He flicked his fingers and sent it spinning across the low table towards Hendry.

"What the hell did you put in my drink...?" The Colonel began, just before the winds caught him and sent him flying into the back wall of the clubroom. I winced internally.

 _Ouch... I've been on the receiving end of that manoeuvre a fair few times. Doesn't get any less painful, mate.  
_  
Hendry grunted in pain as he dropped to the floor, but Shaw, Emma, Janos and I were already moving towards him. Emma transmitted something to him psychically - I could feel the mental energy echo across the room, but I wasn't privy to the words. Shaw nodded to her, and she took on that tantalizing crystalline form that I'd only seen in my mind's eye. It was a lot more intimidating up close like this.

"Magnificent, isn't she Bob?" Shaw said, his voice guttural in a way that I knew signified his feelings towards the majority of humanity. "Genetic mutation. The evolution of the human genome." He paused, and looked at me. "Hasmed, why don't you help the gentleman up."

I breathed. That was an order, I knew, to use my powers. _Alright, Adam, time to step up. You got this.  
_  
I gestured - an unnecessary motion, really, but it felt right - and took hold of his entire body with my PSI. I lifted him casually, but not gently, positioning him into a slightly crumpled, but upright stature. Hendry already looked terrified and confused - the feeling of losing control of your limbs could do that to someone.

"Oh, where's Azazel?" Shaw turned to Emma expectantly, and I think only I caught the slight eye-roll at the implied order.

Emma pursed glass lips and whistled, but I could tell she was really reaching out psychically to Azazel's position just outside. With a burst of smoke and a flash of red, the crimson-skinned mutant appeared just behind and to the right of Shaw, awaiting his instructions.

"Ah," Sebastian said, nonchalant. "We don't want the Colonel to be late."

Azazel nodded, and stepped forward, holding a hand out to the uncertain man. When he didn't take it, Azazel uttered one of the few words I'd heard him speak. "Comrade," he said, and took hold of Hendry's hand before disappearing in another flash of black and red.

...

Later, when we had retired to a more casual setting, Sebastian took the time to hand as all glasses of champagne, and clap us on the shoulder for a job well done.

"Well," he said, "I think that went well. To mutants!" He raised his glass, and the five of us clinked glasses, echoing his cheer.

 _I... Could get used to this,_ I thought, a small but honest grin appearing on my face.


	4. Chapter 4

After the incident with Colonel Hendry, things changed very quickly. The very next day, early in the morning, Shaw had us bundled into cars and off to the airport, onto a private jet bound for Miami. He seemed strangely urgent, eager to get to Miami - he walked with purpose and speed, unlike his usual casual stroll. It was... A little unnerving, honestly- I'd never seen Sebastian like this, so out of sorts, so uncontrolled. Janos, Azazel, and Emma didn't seem to regard it as anything out of the usual, though. If anything, they seemed _exasperated,_ like this was a common occurrence that they'd had to get used to.

When the cars finally showed, Shaw and Emma took the first one, and me, Janos, and Azazel took the other. Azazel took the front seat, next to a deeply agitated an anxious chauffeur - a youngish man with cropped brown hair. He sweated throughout the whole journey, shooting quick glances at Azazel out the corner of his eyes. It would have been comical, if he wasn't essentially terrified of someone because they were different to him.

I asked Janos about Sebastian on our way to the airport.

"Ah, that's just how Mr. Shaw gets." He replied, a small smile on his face. "He only ever feels at home when he's in Miami, on his boat. We can stay in other states for a time, on business, but eventually... He has to get back to the only place he feels at home."

I was surprised. Shaw didn't strike me as the sentimental type - more like the calm, collected, constantly in-control type. I wouldn't have guessed he'd get so anxious over being _homesick_. Still, he was human, after all.

 _Well, that's debatable, right? Heh.  
_  
We passed the rest of the journey in silence, though it was only a short drive from the Hellfire Club to the airport. We were hurried through security with minimal fuss, bypassing most of the typical deal by driving round to a private airstrip. _How rich is Shaw, anyway? He owns, like, a shitton of private stuff!  
_  
Once we were out of the cars, Sebastian dismissed the chauffeurs with a wave of his hand, and a new tide of attendants joined us, loading bags into the cargo hold and offering the five of us anything we could ever possibly need.

I hadn't had anything much to take with me - I had my custom made suit, and a few other changes of clothes that Emma had helped me pick out, but other than that? I had nothing.

 _Wow. That actually... Felt fucking bad.  
_  
I shook my head and took a breath, climbing the steps up to the plane with ease. I'd left everything else behind, so I could move on, now.

 _Right?_

The plane ride was... Uneventful. Shaw's anxiety had built up to a fever pitch, to the point where he just sat in the main body of the plane, staring out the window and sipping scotch. Emma, exasperated, had taken me to he back of the plane and sat me down opposite her for more practice in my 'Trance' abilities.

She'd taken my explanation of Vito's naming system without much comment, and seemed to buy that I'd come up with it on my own. She seemed amused, if anything - I guess she found it cute that I'd gone and named the different parts of my power, or something.

 _It's not cute, dammit! It's cool! I'm badass, I swear!  
_  
Unfortunately, we didn't make much progress. I was getting better at projecting my other senses through that cord of mental force, but I just couldn't connect it to actual telepathy - it looked like mind-reading was out of my reach for now. Still, I'd pulled ahead with the projection; sight was still the most effective, and I could project it further, but hearing and smell were coming along. I was having the most trouble with touch - it felt utterly _bizarre_ feeling objects that weren't anywhere near me, with sensors that weren't even shaped like hands. It felt so _alien_ to my mind that it was almost like my mind was rejecting the feeling of doing it.

Another aspect I'd found interesting, though, was the integration of 'Rise' - using PSI to enhance the physical - into my senses. After all, all of those were actual, physical faculties, weren't they? They were the interpreters of the external mind to my world, but we'd mapped out just how sight worked scientifically, at least. So... If I could use Rise to enhance my strength, and reflexes- why not my senses?

Something to think about at least.

There was another pair of cars waiting for us when we arrived, with another pair of chauffeurs who couldn't keep their eyes off of Azazel. It was... Depressing, how predictable every one was. He wasn't a young guy this tme, but he had the exact same reaction - surreptitious glances out the corner of his eye, an excess of sweat, and a total and utter silence.

Janos was the first one to break the awkwardness.

"So," he said. "I hear Miss Frost been bumping up your psychic training. How's that going?"

"It's..." I paused. "Going. Just not where I _want_ it to go. It feels like, whenever I try to focus on the aspect Emma's teaching me, my powers only want to bring out the other parts."

"Is it easier or harder than your 'Rise' training, would you say?" Janos replied, a sly grin on his face. I rolled my eyes. Ever since we'd been practicing Rise in the practice chamber, Janos had seen me get a real workout; using Rise was _a hundred_ times worse than actual physical exercise, and I finished every session soaked in sweat and barely able to move, not to mention the cramps. He got kicks out of exhausting both my mind and body.

 _Fuckin' sadist.  
_  
"Harder," I groaned, instead. "Much harder. With Rise, I feel like I'm covering loads of bases and training them all at once. With Trance... It feels like I can only work on the things I don't _need_ to work on." I sighed, and shook my head. "It's frustrating, to say the least."

With Rise, I'd been using essentially all the aspects I'd discovered constantly - speed, strength, endurance and healing - to _survive_ against Janos, especially now that he'd stepped up the training, fighting me at _apparently_ his full strength.

I wasn't necessarily convinced, but it would be a pretty severe blow to my pride if he was still holding back and _winning_.

The aspect I found myself using the most, however, was reaction time. It was just so _useful-_ having so long to take my time and decide what I wanted to do, pausing the action around me so I could _think_. And, I found that if I combined it with my sensory projection, I could get a practically omniscient view of the field of battle. It was a combo I was abusing intensely, in regular life as well as in training.

Still, though...

"Did..." I hesitated, wary of asking. I hadn't known Janos for too long, a few weeks, but I felt like we'd become close over that time. I wanted to ask him questions, ask for his help, but... Would it be appropriate? Would I be making myself seem weak? _Fuck, I hate these kinds of situations, where I have to honestly bare my thoughts without it being a complaint or a joke...  
_  
"Did you ever have trouble with your powers?" I asked, finally. "Like, feeling them out, understanding them, using them?"

"Hm." Janos hummed. I winced- he was going to reply with some scathing comment, I just knew it. _Here it comes..._ "Well, you're a lot stronger than I am, so it's a difficult comparison."

"... What?" I asked, frowning deeply. "I- Is that a joke? You beat me literally _every time we spar._ "

"Sure," Janos replied, his tone matter-of-fact. "But that's 'cause you're not using your powers _together._ Your powers... They're absurdly broad. They cover so many individually strong powers that, adding them together makes a monumentally strong mutant. But you're not used to using so many aspects at once, you just move from one part to another too slowly. Me? I just throw wind around, but you have super-strength, speed, telekinesis, healing, maybe _telepathy -_ you're so much stronger than I was at your age."

I sighed. "So it's not that my powers are too complicated, it's that I'm too stupid to use them." I muttered. "Great."

"No, that's not what I-"

"When I was your age, Genesis," Azazel began. "I had no control over my powers. I was travelling my country, Russia, staying out of sight of people who feared my red skin. I had heard of a youth hostel that catered to people like me - mutants that scared most people. When I arrived, though, it turned out to be a myth. Instead a group of Russian _охотник,_ government mutant-hunters, were waiting for me, having drawn my kind in with the false promise of safety. Surrounded by twenty men with guns and nets and cages... I panicked, and disappeared. I reappeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean." Azazel's Russian accent had grown thicker of the course of his speech. "From then on, whenever I would get worried, or scared, or excited - anything that provoked strong emotions would make me teleport. I couldn't control my destination- I was luck I didn't reappear inside a volcano, or at the bottom of the ocean." He paused, shook his head slightly, and seemed to get back on track. "My point is that you shouldn't be worrying about controlling your powers. Every mutant is unique, with their own individual set of circumstances. I had less control at your age, Riptide had more, and Mr. Shaw... Who knows? It might have been more, it might have been less."

With that, he turned back to face forwards again, lapsing into silence. The rest of the trip passed in a certain quietude- but I found myself reassured.

"Welcome!" Sebastian said, arms spread wide as he welcomed us aboard. "To _El Caspartina -_ the true home of the Hellfire Club. Here is my most secret base of operations, where I meet the most important members of our cause, and plan my most world-changing operations. Now-! Emma, Azazel, Riptide, you've all been aboard before, but Genesis - this is your first visit aboard the ship. Now, there isn;t anything complicated you need to know, but there is one rule." A smiled curled at his lips. "Have fun, and don't get caught."

I barked out a laugh, perhaps a little forced, but I _think_ Shaw bought it. It had been surprise, mainly. "Other than that..." Mr. Shaw trailed off for a moment, taking Emma by the waist. "Do whatever you like! Head out into town, stay here, take the motorboat for a spin- no limits." He smiled widely, then turned and walked off to the bow, Emma accompanying him. "Oh, and if someone sees you using your powers... Take care of it!"

Janos and I laughed, more naturally this time, and Azazel at _least_ smirked, I was sure.

"Hey, Adam." Janos spoke up, even as Azazel disappeared off to god-knows-where. "I've got some things to take care of in town, so I need you to stay on the boat- just for now, at least. You can stay and do your meditation thing if you need to, or use the TV- whatever, just don't leave the boat. Okay?"

"Uh, sure." I replied, a little weirded out by his insistence. "Whatever you need, man."

He nodded, clapped me on the shoulder, and set off down the gangplank. I was left standing there dumbly, with nothing but time on my hands.

What was I supposed to do for the next eight hours, huh?

 _El Caspartina_ was surprisingly bland. For all that Shaw called it his 'home away from home,' it was... Basically empty. No photos on the walls. All the rooms were completely spartan, no personal effects. I couldn't even tell which one belonged to the boss himself, they were all utterly identical. It was kinda weird, actually. There were no chefs or staff aboard - I assumed we'd be going out to eat. Sebastian had a fondness for communal dinners, if only so everyone could get updates on his plans.

Not that I ever understood them. It was always, 'talk to this guy,' 'introduce these people,' 'gather info on this politician,' and so on. I had no idea what it was all for.

In the end, I just picked a room and tried to meditate. It was a skill Emma had bee drilling into me, to practice my telepathy, or at least try and trigger it. I'd been using it on and off ever since she'd suggested it, but, honestly? I hadn't had much luck with actual telepathy yet. Sure, it had done wonders for my sensory capabilities, but not much more than that.

I crossed my legs, in an admittedly uncomfortable lotus position and rested my hands on my knees, index finger and thumb touching, but all other fingers relaxed. I closed my eyes, and _focused_.

My perception drifted out of my body, silver chords unfurling and unraveling like a spool of thread. My viewpoint bobbed at the end of the leash, curling and twisting through the air in disorientating three-sixty degree vision. Or rather, it was the _lack_ of disorientation that made it unnerving. Even though my location changed, everything remained in my field of view, nothing dropped out of sight in my periphery. I didn't have a periphery.

As the sphere of projected sight drifted out of my door and through the hallway, I considered Janos' words from earlier. He was right, wasn't he? My problem wasn't a lack of power, it was an abundance of it. I had so many options that I always defaulted to my first- telekinesis.

And sure, that power alone was versatile and strong, but if had combined it with my reaction-enhancing? That was instantaneous, long-range response to any threat. Or with my sensory projections? _Omniscient_ power.

Hell, I could give that a go right now. The orb drifted down the hall, and I took note of a door slightly ajar. I took a deep breath - unnerving, since I couldn't actually see myself - and pushed.

It wasn't immediate. It took a few seconds to actually kick in, the mental wave of force travelling across the distance between me and my perception. I felt like there was an easier way to project that force- perhaps along the Trance cord itself given that it was composed of pure PSI?

Nonetheless, I pushed against the door with my telekinesis and the door opened, letting my orb wander in. I cancelled the telekinesis and tried again, this time sending the package of PSI boiling down the cord connecting my mind to the projection, and it moved much more swiftly to it's destination, before unfurling into a fully-powered telekinetic force.

I could move things around the room much more easily, binding my connection into the Trance cord like this. I floated a lamp across the room, enjoying the way I could watch it drift completely around me constantly, no need for turning or moving.

I stayed like that, practicing long-distance telekinesis for a while. Even now, I felt giddy using my powers - just the knowledge, the _feeling_ that I was literally moving things with my mind, was... Incredible. Mind-blowing, pun unintended. It was captivating.

I was still in the cross-legged position when Janos came to collect me. I'd moved on from just one sight projection, though. Practicing with my telekinesis had lead me to another neat conclusion, though; multiple sightlines let me correlate my perceptions, giving me _true_ limited omniscience. It was a fully mapped-out, three dimensional image of the room. And I could manipulate everything inside it.

Talk about a power trip, right?

"Hey, Adam- woah." He stopped in the doorway, eyes widening at the tangle of Trance cords and drifting objects about the room.

"Hey, Janos," I replied. _Woah, seeing myself talk is weird. Do I really look like that?_ "What do you need?"

"Uh..." Despite seeing my capabilities in the training room, he still seemed surprised by what I could do. "We, uh, we're having a group dinner upstairs. Mr. Shaw ordered some of the local cuisine sent up, so... Whenever you're ready."

I set all my levitated objects back in their places, and allowed the cords to re-spool themselves, retracting into my forehead. With a sigh - partly of relief, partly of exhaustion - I opened my eyes once more. It felt strangely... Limiting to be back to two-dimensional vision.

Huh. "Well, I'm ready now. Let's go." I smiled and got to my feet, finally unfolding my crossed legs. I groaned a little as they finally untensed after hours of being in the same position. I felt a cramp in my left thigh, but after a moment of stretching it faded. I was used to them by now, anyway.

 ***RRRRING! RRRRING!*  
**  
"Huh, I didn't know there was a phone on this boat," I stated, looking around for the source of the sound.

"What?" Janos asked, apparently confused.

"I looked around, couldn't find a phone." I explained.

"That's because there isn't one..." Janos replied, slowly. "Are you feeling alright? Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for you to stay cooped up in your room all day..."

 ***RRRRING! RRRRING!*  
**  
"But if there's not a phone, then..." I froze.

My blood froze.

My everything froze.

PSI flooded my body, slowing everything down to a crawl and pumping my muscles to unimaginable strength.

And still.

 ***RRRRING! RRRRING!*  
**  
I went into a flat out sprint, each stride carrying me the length of a hallway, each footfall an explosion of kinetic energy that left craters in the floor.

I burst onto the deck, nearly blowing the door off it's hinges. Emma, Shaw, and Azazel were seated at the table, about ready to tuck in.

"I'm not ready!" I yelled. "It's too soon! It can't happen again!"

"Genesis, calm down, what are you-"

Gone.

 _I was gone._


	5. Chapter 5

_White, armoured fingers flickered in front of my face, reaching out to grab me. Every few seconds they would latch on, pull me forward, then flicker out of existence again._

 _I was being pulled through a dark place, a bright place, sideways and up and down and left and right and back and forth._

 _I had no control over my direction. I had no control over my movement at all. But intermittently those white fingers, a sphere around the wrist, a crumpled white sleeve, would appear and seize my skull, forcefully dragging me to god-knows-where._

 _I would glimpses of a head, sometimes. More like a_ _helmet,_ _really - a beaked front, swept back behind itself like a parody of cyclist's helmet, some tribal pattern painted in beige on the sides._

 _But I couldn't talk to it. I couldn't interact with it, save for my head being endlessly yanked onward, the rest of my body trailing behind, limp._

 _Not even my PSI could reach it. I didn't have PSI, in this moment, in this place. When I reached for the power, the power ignored me._

 _Concentration - I couldn't focus._

 _Visualisation - I couldn't picture it._

 _Projection - There was nothing to project._

 _There was nothing except me, being endlessly moved through the darkness._

 _Finally, finally, after hours of endless, constant movement - or perhaps only seconds - I caught a glimpse of light, of a world._

 _A barren wasteland, ruined buildings scattered across great plains._

 _Psyren.  
_  
No! _I screamed._ No! I don't want to go back! Get off! Get off me!

 _I writhed, my body coming alive once more, slapping uselessly against the powerful fist of the strange being. But my spasms, my desperate contortions were enough in this strange place. I slipped out of the grasping fingers of the thing as it flickered, desperate to seize hold of me, and I dropped through the darkness, falling in directions incomprehensible to my mind. Or was I falling? Was the being moving further away?_

 _Where was I going? I could feel a destination, somehow, a movement towards an end goal, travelling to some unfathomable place that no one could possibly hope to ever-_

I dropped onto a stainless steel floor from a height of about three feet, on my side, slamming into it without a moment to breathe. My shoulder hit the ground first and creaked disturbingly, followed by the rest of my body slapping against the ground unceremoniously.

My bound bounced, and I groaned. I rolled onto my back, still in severe pain, and opened my eyes-

To stare right down the barerel of a gun. Pointed right between my eyes, close enough that I could barely focus on the end of it, never mind identify who was holding the damn thing.

"You better explain what in the _hell_ is going on, right now, unless you want a really bad headache." A voice proclaimed, deadly serious and very threatening.

"Um," was my eloquent response. "I can explain, if you'll just excuse me for one moment-"

I rolled onto my side again, and a ghastly brown liquid exploded out of my throat, coating a pair of _very_ nice boots with bile and chunks of food unidentifiable to any normal human.

 _Is that toast?_ I wondered briefly.

There was an awkward silence, as I rolled onto my back and looked up again. The ceiling was surprisingly high, actually, with glass that displayed a nice view of blue sky and fluffy clouds. I turned my head the other way, to look down onto some kind of high-tech work-station, with many disgusted-slash-surprised looking men and women in uniform standing at various panels, each decorated with blinking lights and lots of buttons.

I looked up again to see the disgruntled face of black man with an eye patch, lips pulled back into an expression of disgust.

I cleared my throat, turned my head, and spat the last remaining remnants of my stomach onto the side. "Sorry," I said, finally. "I think I might be a bit lost."

"Security!" The man finally yelled, stepping back and holstering his gun.

I didn't resist as six men holding assault weapons of some kind charged into the room, visors covering their faces, and surrounded me. Four of them took cardinal positions surrounding me and raised their weapons, while the remaining two grabbed an arm each and dragged me out of the room.

 _Through_ the pile of sick still on the floor, I noted, annoyed. _Great, now my knees are gonna be all soggy and gross. Ugh.  
_  
The parting remark I caught from the man with the eyepatch was, "Can somebody _please_ get me a new pair of shoes?!"

 _Heh._

I ended up handcuffed to a chair in the middle of a brightly lit white room, literally untouched by dust or dirt of any kind. Imagine the most sterile place in existence- then imagine someone had taken a microscopic toothbrush and scrubbed every inch of it with acid. That's the kind of sterility I was seeing here.

One wall was dominated by an enormous mirror. A two-way mirror, I assumed, so that they could watch me without me watching them. I wasn't sure what they were expecting, though - it's not like I was gonna just reveal my powers and break out, no, they'd be expecting that. Besides, there wasn't really anything I could use my telekinesis on - the door had melded seamlessly into the white walls, not even the faintest trace of an outline obvious, and I really didn't want to try and use my Trance right now.

So I was stuck here, in this featureless white room, waiting for whoever this mysterious organisation was to decide what to do with me.

 _Man, these guys are assholes.  
_  
"Could I get some music in here, or something?" I asked, directly to the mirror. "You know, just something to pass the time."

No response.

"Assholes." I muttered, and tried to catch some sleep.

...

...

I was unsuccessful. You know how difficult is to sleep handcuffed, upright, in a really uncomfortable metal chair? Really difficult.

 _Really_ really difficult.

...

...

Passing the time in this place was... Difficult. I'd already tried counting sheep in my head, but it didn't help me drift off any quicker, so it was fairly pointless. And since I wasn't willing to practice my powers with these goons watching me... I was stuck. Stuck and bored.

 _Fucking kill me_.

...

...

It seemed like an age had passed, before I heard the hiss of a door release, and one innocuous panel of wall slid smoothly open. Not the wall I had thought the door was on, actually. _Damn, I gotta work on my observation skills. Or memory. I can never remember which.  
_  
The open door bore admittance to a man - late-forties, early fifties, maybe. His hairline was receding somewhat, but still dark, and naturally so. He was wearing a dark suit- but a _normal_ one, not like the weird black trenchcoat Eyepatch had been wearing. The lines on his face were faint, but definitely there - he was getting on a bit, but still in his prime.

"Hi there," I said. It would probably have been smarter to remain silent, but the sheer boredom of being in this room for so long had burnt out the last vestiges of common sense.

Honestly, I was just getting tired of being yanked to places I didn't want to go so often. _My last fucks have been given, so to speak.  
_  
"Hello," he replied, a small smile quirking at the edge of his lips.

We lapsed into silence, as I waited for him to get to the point. I couldn't be bothered with any pleasantries.

"Do you know," the man finally asked. "Where you are?"

"Haven't the foggiest," I responded brightly, immediately. "Last thing I know, I'm having dinner in Miami, then, I'm throwing up all over the nice man's shoes."

The man nodded, thoughtfully. "So what's a young Englishman like you doing in Miami, anyway? Vacation? Visiting relatives?"

"You know, I was actually just there from Las Vegas." I paused, just to be slightly more annoying. "But if you want to know how I got there... Well, I'll let you know when I know. I didn't choose to go there - pretty much the same thing happened from Miami to here, as from my previous place of residence to Las Vegas."

"Really." He sounded skeptical. I shrugged my shoulders - as best as I could, given my handcuffed state - and smiled widely. I'd never been in an interrogation before, but I doubted I could pull off the whole, 'silent and stoic' act so many action heroes had. So I went with the next best thing- tell as close to the truth as I could, without giving anything actually important away.

Not that I knew what qualified as important, anyway. I didn't know any secrets about... Anything, really. The existence of mutants? That whole thing with Shaw intimidating that asshole Colonel? The... Nukes. Right. Nearly forgot about that. I'd meant to ask Janos about it, but with the sudden move to Miami, it had just... Slipped my mind.

Man. Nukes slipping my mind. I would be _terrible_ at being in charge of anything.

"So then, where were you before being sent to Las Vegas." He phrased it as a question but it was really more of an order. _I think he's getting tired of me... I'm wearing him down. That's good, right?  
_  
"Funny story," I said, shuffling in my chair to get more comfortable. My arse was beginning to seize up. I finally settled, and glanced at the man's face- were his teeth grinding? Was that my imagination? "I was actually kidnapped, from my home in London. Some lady was talking to me over a payphone, and then I was... Knocked out, or something, because I ended up in a desert. I still don't know where it actually was, but after a... Brief period there, I was teleported to Las Vegas."

"Teleported." He stated dryly. I could tell he didn't believe me. He seemed to pause before speaking again. "... What's your name."

"Adam."

"Your full name."

I rolled my eyes whilst I searched my mind for an appropriate last name. I didn't really want to give him my real last name, so... "Frost. Adam Frost." _Sorry, Emma_. I winced, internally. _Yours was just the first I could come up with._ I saw the man open his mouth to ask another question. _Quick, deflect!_ "What, uh, what's your name? What do I call you?"

"..." He was contemplating it, I could tell. "... For now, you can call me Agent Coulson."

"Coulson, got it." I smiled brightly at him, pretending ignorance of what he was trying to do.

"We're going to take some blood now, okay?" Coulson said, gesturing to te people behind the mirror. The door hissed open again.

"Not much I can do to stop you, is there?" I shrugged my shoulders again, ignoring the way my wrists chafed against the restraints.

A man and a woman, both in long white lab-coats entered, wearing blue latex gloves and... Protective goggles. _Really? As far as they know I'm just some guy. Do they expect em to have acid blood or something?_ The woman was holding a syringe with a - fortunately - small needle. Still, I winced a little as she closed in, not looking forward to her taking blood. I'd hated getting my shots.

When she laid the _very_ cold needle against my skin, I flinched a little, jerking my arm just as she slid the thing in to the inside of my elbow. It entered at a weird angle, missing the vein, or artery, or whichever she was taking blood from, I could never remember the difference. The result was that, as she took the blood, and removed the needle, a small droplet of red bubbled up at the hole and leaked out, painting a red line down my forearm. She swabbed it with a cotton bud, but remained silent and ducked out swiftly, followed by her male companion. _What was the point of him even being here?  
_  
I tutted at the wound, and diverted a tiny bit of PSI to knit the thing together without thinking.

"Thank you," Coulson finally said, and I glanced up at him. "Once we figure this all out, I'm sure you'll be free to go."

"Cool." I said in response, nodding my head as Coulson turned to leave, the door hissing shut behind him.

I sighed at his departure, and closed my eyes once more. Not to get to sleep this time, though - Coulson's interview-slash-interrogation had made me come to a decision. The way he'd asked if I knew where I was, as if he expected me to know, had gotten me curious. Where was I, actually? And why was it full of so many shady-looking 'agents'?

The floor was white, so the cord of Trance I'd extended was not particularly visible. Once the door had opened, I'd snuck the sight projection out, but kept it from giving me input until Coulson was gone, and I could focus on the visions.

So far, it seemed... Well. Like the base of a shady, clandestine organisation. All the halls were the same white, sterile, balnk surface in this interrogation room, but there were windows into various different rooms. Most of them were empty, at least the ones around me, but...

Stairs! So this place had multiple floors. I was guessing this floor was holding cells, in case someone like me appeared, or they captured someone they needed to keep away from the important stuff. The projection snaked it's way underneath the stairs, avoiding obvious paths and keeping out of sight as best it could. On this floor... Huh. The same white halls and windows, but... Research labs? Each room was dominated by machinery and computers, and... Were those... Holograms?!

Holy shit, this was _not_ 1962\. Had I been transported into the future, as well as away from Miami? Fuck...

I kept exploring. The research labs were neat, but I was looking for information on where, exactly, I was. I kept high, out of people's peripheral vision, sticking to the brightest places to avoid being spotted. After a while of winding my way through a maze of corridors and laboratories, I... I found...

The bridge? This was a... Plane, of some kind? How? The enormous windows decorating the front of the... Hull, I guess, gave me a very clear and distinct view of clouds and blue sky. Eyepatch was standing in the central... Platform, surrounded screens reporting on various things that I'm sure made sense to someone, somewhere.

I couldnt get over the, 'on a plane,' part, though. I'd not felt any turbulence, not even any _movement_. How...? No, never mind the smoothness, this was apparently the future. How did they _fit_ all this stuff onto a plane? Surely they had to take weight into consideration? From everything I'd seen so far, there was no way a normal plane could have _multiple floors.  
_  
Okay, okay. Calm down. Recap. _I've apparently been transported into the future, where technology is so advanced they don't need to worry about weight, and flight is so stable that someone stuck in the same place for_ hours _wouldn't notice a thing. Also, I'm currently the prisoner of some shady, possibly governmental going by the whole 'Agent' thing, organisation.  
_  
I considered my position. I wasn't getting out of here in the foreseeable future, even though I probably could. I needed something to bargain with so I could get the _fuck_ out of this chair. What can I offer them? I'm just a fucking kid, caught up in something way bigger than me. I didn't have anything they wanted.

It also hadn't slipped my mind just how convenient this whole thing was. That... Thing, whatever it was, that had been dragging me back to Psyren, it had failed. Obviously. But somehow, it's failure resulted in me landing, however high up we were, on the bridge of a plane? Out of all the possible places I could have emerged, I emerged here? Right in front of the guy who looked increasingly like the head honcho. No _way_ was that an accident. So... Outside interference? Something had wanted me to land there? Or had That Thing just decided at the last moment, _eh, if he's not coming to Psyren, these guys can deal with him_. Whatever it was, it _had_ to be intentional.

My sight projection caught sight of something, and I redirected my attention towards the construct. I didn't have sound, and I couldn't read lips, but apparently there was some kind of alert being raised. A picture of a pale guy with slicked-back dark hair was displayed on most of the monitors in the room. The room was instantly in a panic, and as I turned to survey, I caught sight of another guy I had apparently missed. Blond hair, _really_ beefy, and fairly attractive. For a guy, y'know.

 _Wow, he is_ tall.

He was having some kind of discussion with Eyepatch, before a redheaded young woman gestured for him to follow. _Well, why not, right?  
_  
My construct retracted slightly, pulling back into the hallway, before giving chase to the pair. The woman was dressed in some kind of skintight suit made of an indiscernable material- lycra? No, no, that would be stupid.

Regardless, the dark bulb of my vision followed, snaking round corners, and descending _another_ flight of stairs in pursuit of the two. After a decent few minutes of traversing the endless, painfully white hallways, Redhead brought Beefy to a halt in front of a door. She had a short conversation with him, then swiped a keycard, and allowed him to enter, remaining outside. I snaked my Trance cord in, barely slipping through the rapidly-closing doorway to survey the insides. And the insides... Boy.

Racks upon racks of weaponry, tactical gear, ammunition, body armour- you name the fighting-related item, they had it.

And, at the very end... A costume. Blue chest, dominated by a star at the center, red and white stomach, thickly armoured and displayed on body model. Behind - a shield, red, white and blue, again with a star at the center. _Really going for the patriotic theme there, huh.  
_  
It was unmistakeably a superhero outfit. Hell, I already knew superpowers existed - I had them. Was it such a stretch to go from that, to using those powers? Probably not. Back home, the only superhero comics I'd been familiar with were DC and... Um... Well, I couldn't think of any others. Just DC, I guess. But I'd never thought anyone would actually use their powers, if they had them.

Guess I was wrong. Still, though, at least now I knew what I had that they wanted. I had something to negotiate with.

I terminated the Trance cord, cutting it off at the base.

 _Big mistake_.

A surge of pain signified the cessation of my sight projection, as I realized that this was the longest I'd ever had one up, and the furthest I'd ever sent one out. It was amazing I'd been able to put off the pain that long, but now that I had finished, the strain on my PSI was too great to ignore. I was basically running on fumes here. The migraine that slammed into my skull left spots dancing in my vision, painting the world in pretty colours while my _brain_ throbbed and pulsed against the inside of my cranium.

 _I am never,_ ever _, doing that again, so long as I live.  
_  
I breathed out a sigh, and opened my eyes, wincing as the bright lights assaulted my poor retinas.

"Hey." I called out to the mirror, immediately wincing at my too-loud voice. "Do you think I could get some food in here? I haven't eaten in ages."

No response. I sighed and rolled my neck, again wincing at the way it clicked from staying in one place too long.

The door hissed open, and I jumped in surprise. In walked two agents, one holding a plate of some... Indescribably nasty-looking gruel. A thick, chunky paste that looked like it had oozed out of a rotten hunk of meat.

I salivated at the sight.

The other agent knelt behind me, placed a _second_ pair of handcuffs on one wrist, and chained me to the chair itself. Then he undid the first pair, letting my right hand go free so that I could actually eat. The first agent placed the plate of gruel - cold, I noted distantly - on my lap.

They both turned to leave, but just as the door was beginning to shut, I spoke up.

"By the way," I said, mouth already partially filled with the disgusting, but surprisingly filling, gruel. "Could you fetch Coulson? I'd like to let him know that I'm a mutant."

They both paused. Agent Number One turned to look at Agent Number Two, both of their faces frozen in stoicism. I could see the tension in their bodies. Agent Number Two nodded, and the door closed behind them.

I grinned. _Now, I just have to find a way to convince Coulson I wanna be a superhero so I can get the hell outta here._


	6. Chapter 6

"What makes you think you're a mutant, Adam?" Coulson asks, arms folded and a focused look on his face. I raised an eyebrow.

"My... Superpowers...?" I replied, hesitantly. I couldn't tell if he was asking seriously, or just testing me. Was this some secret question that all real mutants knew the answer to?

"Could you give us a demonstration?" Coulson responded, not missing a beat. He was still wearing the same stoic, slightly amused, but highly-focused expression he had been since entering my little cell-slash-interrogation room. "Just don't hurt anybody. Or damage anything."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Agent." With my free hand, I made an elaborate - and totally unnecessary - gesture above the surface of the now long-empty plate, and lifted it into the air with my telekinesis. I raised it above my head, had it do a few orbits of Coulson's head, then had it come to rest on my lap once more. "Satisfied?"

"Telekinesis, then." Coulson said, and I was sure someone on the other side of the mirror was furiously typing away exact observations and analyses based on what they just saw. "I'm surprised. Most mutants wouldn't be so blatant about their status, especially after what happened in '83, not to mention the bad name the Brotherhood gives you."

I paused. I was tempted to ask just what the hell he was talking about - it sounded like I'd missed a lot between my ventures with the Hellfire Club in 1962 and... _When_ ever I was now. But... That ran the risk of revealing to Coulson just how out of place I was. For all I knew, those were things everyone knew about- common knowledge, and my asking about it would just expose me as a stranger to this world. I couldn't take the risk, not yet. Maybe once I had access to the internet...

Wow. _That_ was something I had missed. Internet. It had been... More than a month since I'd been on there, where before I used it practically every day. Janos had taken up a lot of my time with his training sessions - same for Emma - but I had still felt the loss, as much as I'd avoided thinking about the time before I arrived here.

Speaking of which.

"Look, I gave you a show of trust by telling you about my powers. I could've broken out of here at any time, but I didn't, because I don't want to start a conflict." I looked Coulson dead in the eyes. He stared back, unflinching. "Could you reciprocate? Give me a show of trust by letting me out of this room? Or at least telling me where I am?"

There was a silence for a while. Almost a minute. Which didn't _sound_ that long, but trust me, when all you're doing is staring at each other in total silence, it feels like ages.

"Fine." I silently celebrated as Coulson broke first. He gestured to someone outside the door, which bore admittance to a young blonde woman, hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and an _even more_ severe look on her face than Coulson. _Wow. I didn't think that was actually possible. This place is full of surprises._ Coulson nodded to the woman, who walked around behind me and unlocked my cuff. "This is Agent Decker. She'll be your escort and handler for as long as you're here to make sure you don't go anywhere you're not supposed to. You are to follow her orders at all times if you want to stay out of a cell. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir, Agent Coulson, sir." I offered him a sloppy salute and a lopsided grin. "Are you going to tell me where I am, now?"

"You're in the Helicarrier, a state-of-the-art, top secret SHIELD base, currently hovering above the Atlantic Ocean." Coulson raised an eyebrow. "I can give you exact co-ordinates, if you want."

"I... Don't think that'll be necessary." I chuckled, nervously, then cleared my throat. "And, um, the Helicarrier is-"

"A giant, flying aircraft carrier, that's right."

"Oh." _Just a little bigger than a plane, Adam.  
_  
"Now, I have some reports to attend to, so feel free to walk around the places you are free to walk." Coulson smiled. It was fake. "Agent Decker will let you know where that is."

I nodded, smiling tightly as Coulson shot a glance at my babysitter and left. We both watched the door slide shut as he left, and remained in another awkward silence - _lot of those going around today_ \- until I finally stood up.

"Right then." I brushed my legs off, just for something to do, and stretched my arms above my head. "I wanna go see the bridge again. I... Can go to the bridge, right?"

Decker nodded, already striding over to the door and scanning a keycard over a panel of wall indistinguishable from the rest. _Going for the silent and stoic routine, huh? Can't say I blame you, it's the easiest way to seem like a badass, but you're not getting anything past me. I_ will _bug you until you break, lady.  
_  
Decker gestured for me to go first, and I rolled my eyes. "Too suspicious to let me walk behind you, Decker?" I strolled out of the door, hands in my pockets, aiming for over-the-top casualness to annoy her as much as possible. "I have to tell you, this really doesn't make it harder for me to get out of here, you know? If I wanted to that is." _Phase 1 - self-aggrandizement.  
_  
"Makes it easier for me to shoot you, though." Decker's voice was surprisingly husky. I had not expected that.

"Agent Decker!" I spun around with a faux gasp, walking backwards and with an exaggerated look of shock plastered over my face. "Was that a _threat_!? Why, I'm insulted! How dare you!"

"Keep moving." Decker replied, remaining impassive. I rolled my eyes but turned, making my way towards the stairs I'd seen earlier. I didn't actually want to go to the bridge- no, I was far more interested in the research labs, and I was hoping I could convince my handler that I could be allowed to see them.

I took the stairs two at a time, hopping up with a sudden burst of speed to force Decker to jerk forwards at a run to keep up. I made sure to chuckle extra-loud so she knew I was doing it on purpose. Still, she remained impressively unmoved, keeping that same tight, severe look on her face.

I strolled down the hallways passing by the various laboratories, observing them without disguising my interest.

"Hey, you think I could have a look in one of these?" I asked, turning a corner away from the bridge and deeper into the maze of rooms. I was trying to sound casual, in order to keep her from thinking I had a serious interest and therefore deciding to keep me out. If she had thought I was just randomly interested in having a quick look inside, she might have been more willing to let me.

That logic sounded more logical in my head.

"I..." She was hesitating. That either meant that Coulson hadn't said anything and she didn't know whether she was allowed to let me in, or she was allowed to let me in and didn't think I should be. If Coulson had said no, she wouldn't have hesitated, she would have said no immediately. _So I have a chance?  
_  
"Hey, it's just personal interest. We didn't have _anything_ this advanced where I was from." I smiled at her, starting to regret the mockery I'd utilized before. The only thing it would do now was make her less likely to let me in. "Why isn't any of this stuff in commercial spaces, anyway?" I kept wandering through the halls, looking for somewhere Decker wouldn't object to letting me in.

"It's... Prototypes are rolling out, but SHIELD isn't looking to make profits, and it's too risky to put something like this out in the public. Someone could use the common link to gain access to our data." Decker was clearly wearing down. I was just a victim of circumstance, and _obviously_ Coulson would have specified if there was somewhere I wasn't allowed - so I was allowed in here, right?

At least, that's where I imagined her train of thought was taking her. "Right." I said. "Makes sense. Hey, what's going on in here?" I had caught sight of a slightly larger room than the rest. Only one guy inside - most of the rest had at least two, more often three and four. If there was just one person working on it - _not even in a lab coat,_ I thought - surely it wasn't that important?

The door had two panes of glass, but it was mostly thick steel. The windows were barred, much like every other lab on the ship, and there was a _hell_ of a lot of high-tech machinery inside - basically, identical to every other lab in this block. Interestingly, though, it was set into high windows at the back, facing out into some kind of hangar, presumably where other planes docked. The man himself was focused on some display in front of him, flicking his hands over a holographic image of various graphs and charts. It looked... Complicated. And high tech.

"Um, actually, that's-" Decker started to protest, the first sign I'd seen of her mask really breaking. _Interesting_.

"Harmless?" I grinned. "It's just one guy in there, and it's not like I'd have an opportunity to actually do anything - you could have your gun out and a bullet in my back before I could say, 'Agent Decker, I'm going to do something bad somehow, even though I have no resources, no listening devices, and no method of escape.'" I raised an eyebrow. We kept up a staring match for a tense few seconds before she sighed, pulled out a card and pressed it against the lock.

The doors slid open, and the guy looked up in surprise. He had a mess of dark brown hair, graying slightly at the temples and short, quickly-shaven stubble. He was wearing simple, wire-frame glasses and a dark blue shirt with the top two buttons undone.

In short? _Kind_ of a mess.

"Uh, sorry, what are you...?" He started, sounding tense and uncertain. His eyes had already acquired a nervous, panicked look, one that I new well. It was the same look I'd had, facing down that creature back in Psyren. _Don't dwell, Adam. Get some information about what's going on around here, maybe you'll find a way to convince Coulson to you're honest.  
_  
"Hi!" I started out jovial, trying to build a rapport. "New arrival here, not that I had much choice in the matter. Can you believe I just appeared on the bridge, threw up right on Eyepatch's shoes?" I smiled, even as tall, dark and messy let out a startled laugh. "Adam Frost, nice to meet you."

"Bruce. Ah, Bruce Banner." He leaned over the enormous workstation to shake my hand. _He has a... Surprisingly weak grip, for a guy his size._ "Did you, uh, say Eyepatch?" He was smiling lopsidedly, looking relieved. "I think you meant, uh, Director Fury."

"Ooooh, _Director_. Sounds important." I paused. "Have I screwed myself, with the whole..." I paused, then pretended to stick two fingers down my throat. "Y'know?"

"Ah, Fury might be a little... Stern, but he can forgive. I should know, he-" Bruce paused, glancing at my handler. I turned with him.

"Oh, that's just Agent Decker, my babysitter." I gave her a little wave, then turned back to Bruce. "She's just here to make sure I don't break anything."

"Right." Bruce said, smiling a little more tightly now. He turned his attention back to the workstation, stuttering a glance up to me briefly, before adjusting something on the monitor in front of him. _Well, he clammed up all of a sudden.  
_  
"So." I said, hopping up to sit on the desk. "What are you working on? Wait- are you allowed to tell me? Is it top secret info? Huh?" I grinned conspiratorially and gave him an exaggerated wink.

"Uh..." Bruce didn't seem to know what to do. He once again turned to Decker. This time I caught the shake of the head.

"Wait, it _is_ top secret? Huh. Guess these things are more likely than you'd think." I grinned despite my disappointment. "Well, anyway, what can you tell me? What are you doing on this ship, huh?"

"I..." He paused again. _Damn, what is with this guy? Is his whole life a fucking secret?_ "I... Damaged... Some things, and... Fury told me if I... Took a short job here, he'd look the other way." Bruce seemed uncertain, searching for words and being deliberately vague. Definitely not the whole story.

Still, I was surprised. Nervous, messy Bruce was... What, some hacker? He got into something he wasn't supposed to, SHIELD gave him an ultimatum? I'd heard cases of things like that happening with CIA and FBI type organisations, but I'd never thought it actually _happened_. Huh.

"So, um, anyway." Bruce spoke up, catching my attention. I smiled at him, waiting for a continuation. "You said you, uh, 'appeared,' on the bridge? What, what does that mean?"

"Basically exactly what it sounds like; one second I was on a boat in Miami, next thing I knew I was on the bridge of this place, blowing chunks on Fury's boots."

"So... There wasn't a, uh, trigger? Just... Out of the blue?" If anything, Bruce looks even more confused.

"Exactly." I replied. "In fact, I-"

 _What the fuck?  
_  
"Adam, you... You alright?" Bruce asked, hesitant.

 _No, seriously, what the fuck? What is that?  
_  
"You..." I breathed, eyes unfocused, my mind entirely in my PSI. "You don't... Feel that...?"

 _In the distance... It's like nothing I've ever sensed before... This is...  
_  
"Adam, what is it?" Decker asked, harsh and worried.

"It's... Incredible, I..." My mind was reeling. There was a presence, a mental one, like _nothing_ I'd ever felt before. Emma was a speck in comparison, her immense mental power paling before the sheer _force_ of this thing's... This thing's... _Mind?_

 _No. Not a mind- much,_ much _more than that. Its more like... The_ idea _of a mind, its every aspect personified and amplified and... And... And_ holy fuck what is this thing!

"Adam, step away from the window." I turned slightly to see Decker, one hand out and the other behind her back, presumably resting on her gun. "Right. Now."

I looked down- my feet had carried me away from the workbench and towards the windows that served as the back of this room, looking out onto the hangar. I'd been looking right out into the middle distance, where... Huh. I could see a light rapidly growing larger - a ship coming to dock, I guess. _Along with whatever the hell that_ thing _is.  
_  
"Adam! _Now._ " Decker said, sounding a hell of a lot more tense than I'd been expecting.

"Yeah, uh, yeah, sure." I mumbled, backing away from the window, stumbling slightly as I went. Still, my eyes remained transfixed on that ship, as the... Oddly-shaped jet came to rest, just out of sight below the bottom of the windows. Finally, I snapped my eyes away, back towards Bruce- whose brow was now furrowed, brown eyes focused intensely on me with a strange emotion I couldn't quite decipher.

"I... I need to sit down." I stuttered out, my voice shaky and cracking.

"Yeah..." Decker said, sounding puzzled as well. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Hey, Doc, the Director needs- huh." I looked up, to see Mr. Stars-and-Stripes standing in the doorway, staring directly at me, a slight frown pulling at his forehead.

I gave him a slight wave and a tight smile from my position on the floor, my back leaning against the workstation, trying desperately to ignore the massive presence pulling at my attention, this constant pressure just sitting behind me. _It's being moved_.

"I'm sorry, you are?" He asked. He had a kind voice, understanding and compassionate, but also strong. _A hero's voice_ , I thought sardonically.

"Adam Frost," I grunted. _Hang on_. I stopped for a second, my mind racing. _I can use this... This_ thing _, to my advantage._ I put my hand out, gripping onto the edge of Bruce's workstation and pulling myself to my feet. _Wow, this guy is huge._ "You must be...?" I trailed off slightly, not _actually_ having any idea what this guy's name was. Clearly, he was a big deal - he was the one in the bright, colourful costume, but other than his probable status as superhero, he was a mystery.

"St- ah, Captain America." He offered me a smile, and I leaned over to shake his hand. _Well, if the name doesn't confirm it, I don't know what does. ... Firm grip_. "I'm sorry, I feel like I'm missing something here- what is a _kid_ doing on the Helicarrier?"

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm an adult! ... Nearly. Anyway, it's... Kind of a long story." I shook my head. "Someone else can tell it. For now..." I winced. _That thing isn't getting any weaker... If anything, it's... Growing stronger? What the fuck...?_ "Are you going to talk to Director Fury?" At the Captain's nod, I heaved a shaky sigh. "Okay, good. I _really_ need to talk to him. Like, _right now_."

"Adam-" Decker started, but I turned to her immediately.

"Agent Decker, I realize I'm probably still on some cautionary- probation- _thing_ , but this is really important. I _need_ to see Director Fury. Alright?"

Decker sighed, brow furrowed. She looked on the verge of refusing me, but then-

"He'll be surrounded by some of the most powerful people in the world. The Captain. Stark. Plus, nearly a hundred SHIELD agents." As one, the three of us turned to stare at Bruce. "... What? I was just pointing it out..."

"It should be fine, Agent." Captain America reassured her. "Like the Doctor says, we'll all be there. Stark and Thor, too. And this - whatever this is - sounds urgent."

"It is," I cut in, then winced. _Goddammit, this thing is really pounding at my head... I feel like someone's been shouting right in my ear, constantly, for hours... It's getting closer.  
_  
I looked up. It was close now. Way too closer, far closer than it should be. It was- coming right down the hall? Right here?! _Fuck, fuck, fuck, ow, ow, fuck, ow!_ Finally, it came into view- a long, rectangular steel box, but... Inside... _The presence. Oh, god.  
_  
A black jumpsuited agent was pushing it along, the box itself set on a large trolley of some kind, like those wheeled contraptions used to carry piles of boxes. Only this box contained... Something I couldn't comprehend. As the agent came to our door he slowed, then stopped, and scanned his card on the panel. _No, don't bring it in here!_ The final vestiges of separation between me and the object were finally gone, and as the agent deposited the box beside Bruce's workstation, something... _Happened.  
_  
I stared in horror. Silver tendrils seeped out of the tiny gaps in the seal, tumbling out like so many strands of hair, like the tentacles of an anemone, waving and searching out... What? They looked just like my Trance cords but... _More_ , silvery and glowing impossibly bright, almost blindingly so, but- those weren't vision spheres on the end. Instead, they were twin-pronged, like tuning forks, the ends sharpened to a deadly point. _What the fuck is going on?_ One of the tendrils wandered ponderously over to Agent Decker, worming it's way through the air blindly, before pausing as it neared her, then- _stabbing out directly at her forehead!  
_  
"Okay!" I yelled, suddenly. Decker jumped and stood up, and the fork of Trance bounced harmlessly off her jumpsuit. "We need to go so Fury. Like now. _Right now_. Let's go, let's go, let's go!" I bustled everyone out of the room, flicking my hands at Decker in a shooing motion. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and walked over to the door.

"Fine." She said, serious. "But this better be important."

"Oh, it is." I replied. "It's very important."

Those were definitely Trance cords. There was no mistaking it- and the immense mental presence I could _still_ feel from that thing, even now? Yeah, there was no mistaking that. There was - somehow - a mind in there. A mind with telepathy, or mind control, or something. I'd never seen those cords with Emma - but then, this thing was infinitely more powerful than _any_ telepath in _existence._ It was possible that that correlated with the visibility of the cords, right? If that was the case, though... What the hell were those things on the end? Prongs... It was trying to stick those two sharp parts into Decker's head, but why? Was it... Was it trying to access her mind? It was Trance, after all, and it had the cords, but... A different end. Was that what a telepathy cord looked like? My cords only had the spheres, but if I tried to put those forked spikes on the end, would it _finally_ allow me to use telepathy?

I shook my head. _Seriously, there's a potentially catastrophic psychic_ thing _just twenty feet behind you, and you're wondering whether you finally completed your fucking homework!? Get a grip, Adam!  
_  
I looked up. We were rounding the corner that lead to the bridge, now, and I could already see the conference table that dominated the area behind the main platform. There were more people sitting at it than I'd expected - that same redhead that had shown the Captain to his gear, before, and a blond man in... A remarkably odd set of armour. Another dark-haired, jumpsuited agent stood off to the side, hovering near Director Fury. She was muttering into an earpiece, but her piercing gaze locked onto the four of us as we entered. So did Blondie's and Redhead's, Blondie getting up from his seat as we entered.

"Agent Decker," Fury started solemnly, as we entered. "Could you please tell me what in the _hell_ our uninvited guest is doing on the bridge?"

"Director Fury," I grunted out, feeling the pulse of my migraine tapping a rhythm in my temple. "I understand that you probably have very important things to attend to, but it is vital you hear what I have to say."

"Wait, is _this_ the guy who gave Fury a footwear makeover?" Another voice, slightly faux-incredulous, but relaxed .Coulson accompanied him, directing the man towards the conference table with an exasperated look on his face. He had a dark goatee and brushed back hair, along with a - slightly ruffled - blazer and tie. _Polka dots_ , I thought absently. "I thought you'd be taller. Huh." Goatee strode past me, clapping me on he shoulder as he went. "Tony Stark, though I'm sure you already knew that name, nice to meet you."

I nodded in reply. "Adam Frost. Nice to meet you." Goatee- _Stark_ , continued on to lean against the panels of info, briefly resting his hands on the metal rims before crossing his arms.

"What is a child doing on this battle station?" Blondie asked, turning to Fury, who sighed. "We hold a dangerous prisoner aboard this vessel, the presence of this child is an unwise danger."

"Not a child," I protested. "And anyway, this is _important._ Director, please."

"Go ahead, Frost." The man said, almost daringly, crossing his arms imperiously.

"Okay." I heaved a shaky breath. "It... Is my understanding that you brought something back from... Wherever it was you just were. Someone dropped it off in Bruce's lab."

"A staff," Captain spoke up, looking worried. "Loki was using it to shoot blasts of energy... A lot like a HYDRA weapon."

I disregarded the namedrop of some other clandestine organisation and a Norse _god_ , apparently, for the moment, and forged onward. "Okay, sure, but... That staff is a _hell_ of a lot more dangerous than you realize."

"We know that it was somehow used to turn countless people into Loki's personal servants." Redhead spoke up. "Even people with a lot of training against typical brainwashing techniques."

"Well, whatever that thing is, it's not using 'typical brainwashing.'" I replied, turning slightly. "It's something a hell of a lot more powerful than that." I paused, then heaved a heavy sigh. "Director, I... Told a little white lie about my powers, when I came aboard. My mutation isn't just telekinesis, it's... Telepathy. Or at least, it should be," I hastily qualified as _multiple_ agents around the room straightened in their seats and shot our area of the room worried glances. "I haven't quite got the hang of it yet. But! I _can_ sense the presence of other telepaths, and..." I let out a shaky breath. "That staff, somehow, contains a _mind_ within it. A mind capable of telepathy- and, presumably, mind control." I shook my head. "This thing, whatever it is... It's far more powerful than any other telepath in existence. It's... It's like someone took the _concept_ of a telepathic mind, amplified it a hundredfold, then stuffed it inside that box. I wouldn't be surprised if just being in the _presence_ of this thing would begin to turn you."

I lapsed into silence, my frantic tirade done. The pounding in my head from the pressure of the staff was even stronger, now - the effects didn't seem to be lessening over time. They was growing _stronger_.

"That, Mr. Frost," Fury finally spoke up. "Is quite the bombshell." Looking around the table, I could see at least _some_ worry on everyone's face. "Fortunately, SHIELD's job is to prevent these objects from getting out into the general populace. It'll be safe here."

I let out a painful breath, relieved. _Thank fuck for that, at least._

"Y'know, most mutants wouldn't be so blasé about their status." Stark told me, as wandered back down to Bruce's lab, where even now the staff was being carted off to some deeper room within the Helicarrier, walled off on all sides and studied from afar. "You guys don't have such a great rep, anymore." _Seriously, what the fuck happened since I left the boat in 1962? Mutants were practically unknown there. Dammit, I have to get more information.  
_  
"Coulson mentioned that, too." I started, before hesitating. "I, um, wasn't the best in History Class... Coulson mentioned some incident in 1983, and something about the Brotherhood?" I hesitated again. "Could you... Uh... Explain?"

"Seriously?" Stark glanced at me briefly, one eyebrow raised. "Alright, well, uh, the Brotherhood came before '83, so lets start with that." He paused momentiarily, collecting his thoughts. "So you probably know that in 1962, the US had that little issue called the Cuban Missile Crisis." _Oh, shit_ , I thought. _That's when that was!? And Shaw was talking about nukes... What the fuck did I get myself into?  
_  
"While the US and Russia were squaring up to each other about nukes, neither side knew that the whole thing was actually engineered _by_ a mutant. A powerful one, too." _Shaw_ , I thought. _Was he behind that this whole time? Was that what all his meetings were about?!_ "The whole thing came to a head in October, when ships delivering nukes to Cuba where stopped by US forces, and they reached a stalemate. Tensions built, both sides got a little more aggressive, until eventually shots were fired, triggering a full barrage from both sides. That's when the mutant steps in." Stark shook his head. "Turns out, this whole thing organised by the guy just to, 'show the power of mutants, and to demonstrate that they would no longer be oppressed by humanity.' Basically, this is the stepping off point for when he starts up the Brotherhood of Mutants."

At my still-confused look, he elaborates. "Wow, you really are oblivious to World Events, huh? I guess I can get a little caught up in my work, too." Stark flashes me a quick smile. "The Brotherhood is basically a terrorist organisation, they recruit mutants and attack various operations throughout the world, looking to disrupt anything they deem anti-mutant while at the same time benefiting themselves. They've been... Thwarted, a few times, over the years, by various groups, but as long as the leader is around, they succeed." I raise an eyebrow at his deliberate vagueness. "Right, sorry. He's done a lot of... Not very nice things, so some people don't like mentioning his name." He smiles wryly.

"Guess you're unaffected though, if you've never even heard of any of this." Stark smiles again. "They're still lead by that same guy as before, the one who set up the Crisis in the sixties.

"No one knows his real name, but his moniker for the past fifty years has been Genesis."


	7. Chapter 7

Stark, Bruce and I were in an observation room, looking in on Loki's staff from behind a thick layer of reinforced glass, while SHIELD agents in biohazard suits - or whatever the hell they were wearing - ran scanners over the thing, reporting every little change and shift in temperature, radiation levels, light refraction- anything Stark and Bruce could think of. The two of them could adjust simulations and room conditions and such from within the observational lab, and all other personnel were being kept as far away from the staff as possible.

The only reason _I_ was there was because I told Fury I could see when the staff tried to attach to someone's mind. Fortunately, it looked like the tendrils were put off by a physical barrier between it and it's targets, so the workers should be safe as long as they had no exposed skin. The suits had to be airtight, too - there couldn't be the tiniest opening that would allow a tendril to worm it's way under and infect. Fury had had something put together, though, so I reckoned it should be fine.

I'd stopped paying attention a while ago. All I could think about... The only thing I could focus on... Was Stark's words.

 _His name... Is Genesis.  
_  
That was _my_ name. Or, at least, what I had called myself, back in 1962. So... What? Was this the potential future of what would have happened, if I'd never been brought into the future? Had I been on a course towards becoming the leader of a terrorist group?

I meant... I understood the struggle of mutants. Even in the short time I'd been with the Hellfire Club I'd seen just how hateful and terrified people could get of mutants, and the story Azazel told me and shown me just how widespread this opinion was.

So... I could potentially see how that could happen. How... Maybe... That had gotten to me? And... Maybe I'd seen something, in this alternate timeline where I never got transported to the future, that made me want to fight back, establish the Brotherhood, become a terrorist group...

But for the life of me, I couldn't think what. What could _possibly_ have motivated me to, to, to _kill_ people? Enough people that, apparently, _most_ people had lost someone?!

 _No. Okay, calm down. There are other possibilities, if you just took a fucking second to think about it, moron.  
_  
That's right. There were already quite a few people who knew the Genesis name - the whole of the Hellfire Club, for one. Not to mention any number of people who might have found out between my disappearance, and the events of the Cuban missile crisis.

Or even someone who just came up with it outside of my influence. It wasn't like it was a particularly uncommon theme - Genesis meant creation, it had links to the Bible, it was just a word used by anyone. Just because I had taken that name, didn't mean someone else couldn't have come up with it and used it.

Right. That was right. It wasn't necessarily me. It could be any number of people. I should wait until I found out more information.

 _But the nagging doubt remained... Was I capable of killing- at all, never mind on the level Genesis apparently had?_

Stark left at one point, after an alert beeped insistently at him from his phone. Bruce and I looked up briefly, but we quickly turned back to the tests going on in that room. With no one to discuss the science of the thing, Bruce lapsed into silence, and I was too absorbed in my own thoughts to even attempt keeping up the conversation.

Once the staff had seen that there was no way it could possibly get to the bare skin of the agents inside, it stopped trying. The cords became docile, falling limply to the side of the scepter before retracting back into the glittering blue gem that topped it. I barely noticed.

Time passed, Bruce puttered about the room adjusting holographic gauges and illusory dials. I remained centered, arms crossed and chewing on a thumbnail, an intense frown deep-rooted in my brow. Every now and then I'd look up, to briefly check the Trance cords hadn't emerged, before returning to my introspection.

I was startled out of these ruminations by a sudden beeping, emanating loudly from a large screen on the wall. It had a map of... Somewhere, on it, and large, white, ' **95%** ' next to it, along with coordinates and a bunch of other information.

 _High techy,_ I thought. Bruce apparently thought so too, as he seized a panel and unhooked it from the wall, the information relaying onto it easily. Without another word, the man pressed a pad on the wall and slipped out of the room hastily, the door not even half-open before he wormed his way through and set off.

 _... I should probably follow him_.

I exited before the door could slide shut again, jogging after Bruce's fast-disappearing form, as he rounded a corner and re-entered the lab he had originally been in. I sighed in relief as I followed, even this small distance diminishing the unrelenting headache the staff had been tattooing into my skull.

Inside of Bruce's original lab was... The whole crew. Apparently. Stark, the Captain, Fury, even Blondie and Redhead. _Thor and Natasha,_ Bruce had called them. As I slid in behind Bruce, whatever conversation they were having stopped in it's tracks. The whole room turned to face the pair of us.

"What's... Going on?" Bruce asked hesitantly, holographic pad held loosely in his right hand. I inched around him, leaning against a table for support.

"What's going on," Stark replied immediately, his voice unusually tense as he seized hold of a panel attached to the ceiling and swung it round. "Is that SHIELD is planning to use the _Tesseract_ to make weapons."

Fury cursed under his breath and turned away. "What?" Bruce said, breathless with disbelief. I looked aroud innocently, utterly confused.

"Psst," I whispered to Redhead- _Natasha._ "What's the Tesseract again?"

"Classified," she replied tersely. I blinked, shrugged, then leaned the other way.

"Psst," I whispered to Thor. "What's the Tesseract again?"

"A doorway to another part of space, capable of drawing immense amounts of power through it, to be used for whatever nefarious purpose the wielder desires." Thor said, cuttingly. "It belongs on Asgard."

"Right, yeah, I remember now." I replied, then resumed my leaning position. I glanced over at Natasha. She pointedly looked away.

"... Clean energy, not weapons of mass destruction!" Bruce exclaimed, jabbing his finger at the image of a complicated bullet on the screen. "I didn't sign up for this? Why do you even want them!?"

"Because of him." Fury interjected, loudly and a little - dare I say - furiously, pointing directly at Thor.

"Me?" The blond giant replied, confused and a little concerned.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet." Fury explained, gesturing violently with his hands. "He had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, _hilariously_ , outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor said tersely, teeth gritted and anger on his face, looking directly at Fury with no small amount of anger.

I couldn't help myself. I snorted.

The entire room turned to look at me. "Something to say, Frost?" The Captain asked, the same solemnity and agitation settling over him. There was none of that slight camaraderie and kinship I'd felt last time I was in the same room as Captain America- now, all I felt was the cold certainty that he could put the hurt on me.

 _While, I can put that same hurt right back on you.  
_  
"Yes." I declared boldly. "I cannot believe we're having this conversation."

"Thank you!" Stark sighed, relieved, and turned away, throwing his hands up in the air.

"No, I agree with SHIELD on this one." Everyone's eyes narrowed. And I do mean everyone's, turning to focus on me once more. Stark, in particular, spun with such force he nearly knocked some tools onto the ground. I continued before any more interruptions could erupt, throat drying up now that I had everyone's attention, but determined to say my piece. "Thor, your people may not want _war_ , but they certainly don't care about peace. To the Asgardians, humanity is a particularly large anthill, teeming with insects that don't matter and can't hurt us. Last year, Odin tossed you down to Earth without even the slightest care about where you might land, what consequences you might bring, how _dangerous_ you could be. He wouldn't have cared of you had crashed into the middle of New York City and had the Destroyer decimate the place! You don't care, you're not even trying to care! So yes, if there's a chance that we _ants_ can get ourselves a gun that makes you - at the very least - not _toss your highly dangerous trash into the midst of our most vital cities_ ; yes, we should build the damn gun!"

There was silence. My throat was dry and tight, and I felt my cheeks burn at the lack of reaction.

"How..." Thor asked, approaching me slowly. "How did you know all that?" He asked.

"... What?" I replied, dumbfounded. _What the hell does he- Wait...  
_  
"There is no... _Conceivable_ way you could have possibly known about all that." He continued, voice dropping to a low and dangerous tone. "So answer me carefully, Child of Frost- how did you gain that information?"

"Let's all calm down here, alright?" Fury cut in, interposing himself between me and Thor.

"I..." I looked down at my hands. How the hell did I know all that? I hadn't even been thinking about it particularly hard, I'd just... Once I got going in my rant, it all came flooding out. I hadn't even consciously _known_ that stuff, how on earth had I just blurted it all out like that?

"You need to-" Thor started, his stony gaze growing more heated as he ignored Fury totally, before he was cut off by another loud beep from Bruce's pad.

"We've got the location of..." He started before trailing off.

"Bruce?" Natasha spoke up, sounding concerned. "What's going on? Did you find the Tesseract?"

"Oh my God..." He breathed, then glanced up with an expression of intense panic seared into his eyes. He opened his mouth to call out _something_ , but-

 _Noise, force, pressure and heat, bearing down from all directions._

 _I'm not prepared, I'm not ready, and this_ fucking _staff has been giving me migraines for the past two hours._

 _I'm too slow to reach for my powers, and as the explosions roar in the distance, I feel enormous weight slam into my chest and pin me against a wall._

 _The chaos fades._


End file.
